Beauty Generation, Beat The Clock Set for Round 3

Hong Kong's heaviest hitters return to the Sha Tin Racecourse turf Feb. 16 for what amounts to a private showing as the coronavirus outbreak continues to restrict attendance to only owners and key racing personnel.

Exultant is the star power for the City Hong Kong Gold Cup (G1) at 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles), and Beauty Generation and Beat The Clock face off for the third straight year in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (G1) at 1,400 meters (about seven furlongs).

Exultant, a 6-year-old Teofilo gelding, has emerged as the dominant force among middle-distance and staying runners in Hong Kong with four group 1 victories. He exits a win in the Jan. 27 Centenary Vase (G3) going a less-than-optimal 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles), but in that heat, he was unable to draw away from an improving rival, Glorious Dragon.

Glorious Dragon outran his odds to fall only 1 1/2 lengths short in the Centenary Vase, and trainer Tony Millard said he sees much promise for the future—if not, necessarily, for Sunday's race.

"Exultant looks outstanding," Millard said of his imposing rival after a Thursday work. "Actually, he's not just an outstanding horse. He's a champion horse."

Eleven are entered for the Gold Cup.

Beauty Generation, a 7-year-old Road To Rock gelding, has relegated Beat The Clock to second in the Jubilee Cup in each of the past two years, and they meet again. This time around, it's Beat The Clock, a 6-year-old by Hinchinbrook, on the ascend with two consecutive wins. Beauty Generation has two straight group 1 losses.

Beat The Clock's rider, Joao Moreira, said he expects the trend to continue.

"Beat The Clock is probably going at his very best at the moment," Moreira said. "It is going to be a very competitive race, and whoever wins is not going to win by a big margin. What my bloke has been doing his last couple of starts gives me confidence. He just knows where the finish line is, and he does his best. His form shows that."

Beat The Clock's trainer, John Size, said the distance may play in his horse's favor.

"He hasn't been able to win this race, and it's the only 1,400-meter group 1 on the calendar," Size said. "But Beauty Generation has beaten him both times—but then, Beauty Generation was flying when he beat him both times, I suppose, and we go again and see if we can win one."

Hot King Prawn has been a prominent player in these wars and also returns for another try.

Cooperating with the Hong Kong government efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has announced that, apart from trainers, jockeys, club officials, and stewards with race-day duties, only horse owners with starters and a prior table reservation in an owner box will be admitted to Sha Tin. That will limit attendance to only a few hundred people.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club, one of the world's top 10 charity donors, also is contributing to the efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus by providing HK$73 million (about US$10 million) to nonprofit organizations involved in community support and by sourcing and distributing scarce medical masks to residents.