THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN: IMPRESSIVE LIST OF AUSTRALIAN NOMINATIONS FOR CHAMPIONS DAY

By Graham Potter | Friday, March 22, 2019

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

The Autumn Sun, the heir apparent to Winx as the rising star on the Australian racing scene, has been nominated for both the Group 1 QE 11 Cup and the Group 1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin on April 28 (Champions Day), the second biggest day on the Hong Kong racing schedule.

While Winx has never raced outside of Australia this move by trainer Chris Waller could signal an intention to set The Autumn Sun on a more travelled route than the mighty mare as the three-year-old’s campaign moves into the future.

Australian horses feature prominently in the list of nominations for the big day following the welcome change in quarantine regulations earlier this month which allows horses to once again travel directly from Hong Kong to Australia.

Prior to this interim agreement being reached between the two governments horses had been banned from direct travel between Hong Kong and Australia since October 2017. That decision was originally based on concerns over the movement of horses between Hong Kong and Conghua, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s facility on mainland China.

Protocol at that time, as directed by the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, dictated that horses travelling between Hong Kong and Australia had to spend six months in a third country before entering or re-entering Australia … with New Zealand being the obvious option to satisfy that requirement.

That six month, third country quarantine enforcement mostly complicated life for prospective Hong Kong international race contenders from Australia to the point where, understandably, only a very few took up that option.

That all changed for the better when the Australian Consulate-General in Hong Kong confirmed in a statement that, ‘The Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources completed an assessment of the arrangement and the interim arrangement is effective from 12 March 2019.’

So, the door is open once again for an Australian runners assault on Hong Kong and the country’s representation on April 28 could be a significant one.

Apart from The Autumn Sun, Australian based nominations include Harlem and Extra Brut (QE 11 Cup), Le Romain, Fundamentalist and Shoals (Champions Mile and Chairman’s Sprint Prize), So Si Bon (QE 11 Cup and Champions Mile), Brave Smash, Pierata, Santa Ana Lane, In Her Time and Viddora (Chairman’s Sprint Prize).

With Winx’s grand finale pencilled in (but not yet fully confirmed) as Queen Elizabeth Stakes day at Randwick on April 13 the performances of Australian horses at the international meeting in Hong Kong two weeks later could provide both a much needed distraction from the champion’s departure while, at the same time, giving us a view of future prospects.