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South China Morning Post

Hong Kong could have a Class Three Champion Griffin for the first time in 14 years

Not since the 75-rated Bear Hero took the gong at the end of the 2010-11 season has a horse on a mark below 80 been crowned Hong Kong racing looks set to have it's lowest-rated Champion Griffin in 14 years after the Jockey Club confirmed the initial nominations on Wednesday. Not since the 75-rated Bear Hero took the gong at the end of the 2010-11 season has a horse still in Class Three won Champion Griffin, but that is likely to change this season. Sky Jewellery and Crossborderpegasus are the nominated gallopers and, with the John Size-trained pair unlikely to race again this season, it looks as though either the former off a mark of 79 or the latter with a 77 rating will join the likes of Ka Ying Rising, Howdeepisyourlove, Lucky Sweynesse, Champion's Way and Mr Stunning on the honour roll. There is scope for additional nominees to be added if they stake their claim across the final four meetings of the season, but it's highly unlikely anything can win their way to a rating of 80 or higher. Crossborderpegasus is a handful! John Size's emerging talent wins for a third time from four starts thanks to some skillful handling from @zpurton at Sha Tin... 👏#LoveRacing | #HKracing — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) May 4, 2025 The Champion Griffin award is open to 'new imports carrying the 'K' brand, which arrived in Hong Kong unraced, and which were aged either two or three on the date of the first Hong Kong race meeting of the 2024-25 season'. To boast the 'K' brand, horses had to arrive in Hong Kong on June 1 last year or later. Another Size-trained galloper, Juneau Pride, actually boasts a higher rating than his stablemates on a mark of 80, but he isn't eligible because he arrived in March last year, even though he didn't race last season and began the campaign as a three-year-old. The highlight of the Jockey Club's Champion Awards night on July 11 will be the culmination of the Horse of the Year battle between Voyage Bubble, Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior, while a swag of other honours will be dished out. Ka Ying Rising is the only galloper nominated for Champion Sprinter, Voyage Bubble and Red Lion will duke it out for Champion Miler, Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble are in the running for Champion Middle-Distance Horse, Voyage Bubble has the Champion Stayer category all to himself and Ka Ying Rising, Cap Ferrat, My Wish and Rubylot have been nominated for Champion Four-Year-Old. Manfred is the Man Thanks to his impressive treble at Sha Tin on Tuesday, Manfred Man Ka-leung now boasts the highest strike rate of any trainer this season. By bagging his first three-timer since 2016 and moving to 43 wins from 383 runners this campaign, Man lifted his strike rate to 11.23 per cent and past 12-time champion trainer Size, who is striking at 11.04 per cent. Reunification Raceday wins from We Are Hero, Pearl Of Pang's and Yuen Long Elite continued a strong run of form for Man, who has banged home 16 winners in the past two months. Man, who sits just one win short of his personal-best tally for a season, has eight runners at Sha Tin this Saturday, including the white-hot Patch Of Stars, who shoots for a fourth consecutive victory. While ending the season with the highest strike rate would be a feather in Man's cap, Size is on track for much higher honours and looks well placed to further ram home his advantage in the race for the trainers' title. Eight victories clear of David Hayes with only four meetings remaining, Size saddles up last-start winners Masterofmyuniverse and Szeryng as he looks to seal a record-extending 13th title. While the race for the trainers' title won't mathematically be over for a little while, a couple of unofficial titles will be settled this weekend as the city enjoys its last two dirt races of the term. Unsurprisingly, Zac Purton will prevail on the jockey front, with the suspension of Britney Wong Po-ni preventing the possibility of a late duel. While both riders have eight all-weather wins for the season, Purton has far more seconds and he has rides in both of Saturday's dirt contests. No one else is in contention. Things are much tighter from a trainers' perspective, with Hayes and Frankie Lor Fu-chuen tied on nine wins and Man and Caspar Fownes in striking range on seven winners.