Will the Hong Kong Cup tell us what was the best 10f race of the year?

It’s going to be an interesting end to the season at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Four Group1’s to finish off in style culminating in the Hong Kong Cup over 1m2f. It should be a cracker with a good looking field headed by Vision D’Etat having his last hurrah.

It’s the race itself that interests me most. Where will it rank against the top 10f races of this year?

Will it confirm, even in his absence Henry Cecil’s Twice Over as the best 10f horse in the world on turf this year?

If Vision D’Etat wins having been beaten at Newmarket in the Champion Stakes you would be inclined to think so.

However even though his wins at Newmarket and in the Eclipse at Sandown were impressive he was comprehensiously beaten at Leopardstown in the Irish Champion Stakes when finishing third to Cape Blanco.

The time at Leopardstown was fast when run on quick ground while at Newmarket in October it was slow on the good to soft going.

I reckon the Leopardstown race was the best 10f race in Europe this year not just for the manner in which Cape Blanco hammered his stable rival Rip Van Winkle but because the time was so quick.

On the clock the winner would have beaten Sea The Stars by the tightest of short heads in 2009.

The other one that really impressed me this year was on the other side of the pond, the Arlington Million. It was won by Debussy in a time quicker than the Leopardstown race. Prior to the race the Americans were lamenting the European challenge saying the travelling team weren’t Group 1 standard. They couldn’t see their 2009 turf champion, Gio Ponti getting beaten.

I didn’t see that way. Tazeez had brought the Prince of Wales form when just behind Twice Over in third. Gio Ponti went off odds on and travelled like a good thing coming wide off the last bend to hit the front a furlong out. It looked like a glorious run only William Buick had other ideas. In the twenty four hours before the race the Arlington track which had been like a road all week took 18mm of rain. This turned the ground perfect for Debussy who had previously won on similar ground at Maision Laffette when taking the Prix Eugene Adam as a three year old, a Group 2 over 10f in the summer of 2009. Buick knew the engine he was on and the John Gosden team got their tactics perfect when sending Tazeez out as the hair. They knew that Gio Ponti could travel and cruise but they also knew, as Winchester had shown in the Manhattan at Belmont, that collaring Gio Ponti close home would expose his vulnerability. When Buick asked for his effort Debussy responded beautifully bouncing off the juicy ground to nail the champ. The time of the race made it the best 10f race of the year for me. Gio Ponti’s subsequent efforts when landing the Shadwell Turf mile at Woodbine where he looked awesome and his second to Goldikova in the Breeders Cup mile sealed the deal.

It’s a real pity Summit Surge doesn’t go to Hong Kong. Luca’s Cumani’s charge had been an intended runner having finishing fifth in the million. His chance stolen by those 18mm of rain. He had previously beaten Debussy on his favored fast ground in the York Stakes. If he had run I think he would come close on the Sha Tin’s fast surface. That would have brought the Arlington form to Hong Kong. The best form over 1m2f this year.

I won’t begrudge Vision D’Etat should he win, after all it would be his fifth Group 1 of his career but unless it’s quick it won’t beat Debussy in the Million.