HK Mile features Moonlight Cloud, Sky Lantern showdown

Sunday's Group 1, $2.6 million Hong Kong Mile shapes up as an epic clash

between two superior European distaffers: six-time Group 1 heroine Moonlight

Cloud and the sophomore Sky Lantern, already with four Group 1 titles to her

name. Not to be overlooked are classy locals Gold-Fun and Glorious Days --

especially since Hong Kong-based runners have won the last seven editions --

while Irish raider Gordon Lord Byron, Australia's Linton and the American King

Kreesa must lift their game to spoil what could be a match race.

Moonlight Cloud has been compared to Miesque and Goldikova by trainer Freddie

Head. The European champion, who came closest to beating Black Caviar in the

2012 Diamond Jubilee, has justified that lofty opinion over the course of her

career. Since throwing in a rare clunker in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile at

Santa Anita, Moonlight Cloud has been unbeatable this campaign.

Warming up with an effortless score in the Prix de la Porte Maillot at

Longchamp, Moonlight Cloud then smashed a pair of course records at Deauville.

She ran away with the about 6 1/2-furlong Prix Maurice de Gheest for the third

straight year, and held on from Olympic Glory in the Prix Jacques le Marois at

this metric mile trip. In her only subsequent start, Moonlight Cloud produced

her trademark turn of foot in a brilliant last-to-first victory in the October 6

Prix de la Foret. Well drawn in post 6, and proven going right-handed, the

five-year-old mare will be tough to beat with regular rider Thierry Jarnet.

Sky Lantern has demonstrated a potent late kick herself. Also out of luck in

the 2012 Breeders' Cup, where she was eighth after a nightmare trip in the

Juvenile Fillies Turf, the gray has developed into a star miler in 2013. The

Richard Hannon filly captured the One Thousand Guineas, and looked positively

explosive when dominating the Coronation at Royal Ascot by four lengths. Sky

Lantern was the victim of trouble in the Falmouth, with Elusive Kate carrying

her clear across the course, yet she still went down by a scant neck. Hampered

by traffic when fifth on the step up to 1 1/4 miles in the Nassau, Sky Lantern

regrouped with a convincing score in the September 28 Sun Chariot last out.

Should Sky Lantern seize the mantle from Moonlight Cloud, she would give

owner Ben Keswick a big win on his local turf, and send Hannon into retirement

on a high note. Stable rider Richard Hughes will guide Sky Lantern from post 8.

Gold-Fun has emerged as Hong Kong's leading miler at the moment. The winner

of the Hong Kong Classic Mile for four-year-olds in January, he is perfect in

three starts for Richard Gibson this preparation. Gold-Fun returned to action

with a visually impressive display in the National Day Cup Handicap, followed up

with a perfunctory tally in the Sha Tin Trophy, and got up a shade cozily in the

November 17 Jockey Club Mile. The Irish import landed wider than preferable in

post 10, but jockey Olivier Doleuze wasn't concerned.

Glorious Days was runner-up in this race a year ago to the now-sidelined

Ambitious Dragon. But Glorious Days has taken an altogether different path to

Sunday's renewal. In 2012, he had the benefit of a couple of preps under his

belt, including a victory in the Jockey Club Mile. This time, trainer John Size

is bringing him in fresh off a six-month layoff. Glorious Days has a history of

running well off the bench, but was dealt a blow when drawing post 13 with

Douglas Whyte. Size will also send out Real Specialist, who adds blinkers after

his three recent losses to Gold-Fun.

Gordon Lord Byron, fourth here last year, faces a tall task against Moonlight

Cloud. The Tom Hogan charge was no match for the mare when third in the Maurice

de Gheest and runner-up as the defending champion in the Foret. Unlike 2012,

when he went straight to Hong Kong off the Foret, he tried the October 19 Queen

Elizabeth II and ended up seventh behind Olympic Glory. That underscores

questions of whether Gordon Lord Byron is as effective at a mile; after all, his

biggest career wins have come in the about seven-furlong Foret and the Haydock

Sprint Cup.

Linton pulled a 25-1 upset in the Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm in June.

Aside from capitalizing on an eight-pound concession from Buffering, Linton was

also improving markedly in first-time blinkers. The John Sadler veteran

reappeared with a strong fifth, under top weight, in the Sir Rupert Clarke, but

could do no better than eighth in the Toorak Handicap in his latest. The

Australian-bred son of Galileo projects a ground-saving trip here from post 3.

New York-bred King Kreesa, who promises to make use of his early speed from

post 11, aims to become just the second American-trained horse on the honor

roll. The first, Glen Kate, won this race in its old incarnation as the about

seven-furlong Hong Kong International Bowl in 1993. Trained by Jeremiah

Englehart, King Kreesa has been a consistent performer around a mile all season.

Although he wired the Poker, and dusted state-breds in the Kingston and Mohawk,

his best performance was his hard-trying second to Wise Dan in the Fourstardave

Handicap at Saratoga. Hall of Famer Mike Smith picks up the mount on the front

runner.

Completing the international squad is France's Shamalgan, a two-time Horse of

the Year and multiple champion in the Czech Republic. Third in the 2010 Poule

d'Essai des Poulains (French Two Thousand Guineas),  Shamalgan has struck

top form since transferring to Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte this season. He took the

September 29 Premio Vittorio di Capua by 2 1/2 lengths, and finished best of the

rest behind Feuerblitz in the Premio Roma last out. But post 14 might have

scuppered whatever slim chance he had in this superb affair.

The remaining locals are all capable on their day. John Moore is responsible

for Dan Excel, whose honesty was rewarded with a course-and-distance victory in

the Champions Mile in May, and Xtension, the winner of the 2011 and 2012

runnings of the Champions Mile.

The five-year-old Dan Excel, once a classy European known as Dunboyne

Express, probably has more upside than his older stablemate at this point.

Xtension was off form for quite some time before a solid third to Gold-Fun in

the Jockey Club Mile. In contrast, Dan Excel was runner-up in several major

races, most notably to Glorious Days in the Stewards' Cup and to Hong Kong Horse

of the Year Military Attack in the Singapore Airlines International Cup. Dan

Excel had a setback that has caused him to play catch-up in the new Hong Kong

season, but his fifth under top weight in the Jockey Club Mile was a solid prep.

Caspar Fownes will be represented by the speedy Helene Spirit and confirmed

closer Packing Whiz. Helene Spirit nearly wired both the Champions Mile and

Jockey Club Mile, and was just denied by Dan Excel in the former and by Gold-Fun

in the latter. Packing Whiz, hero of the 2011 Premio Parioli (Italian Two

Thousand Guineas) under the name of Al Rep, was fifth in this race last year.

Wrapping up the 2012-13 campaign with a score in the Chairman's Trophy and a

third in the Champions Mile, he was sixth in his comeback in the Jockey Club

Mile.

Trainer Tony Cruz must always be respected, and he has sounded bullish about

Pure Champion. While only eighth in the 2012 Mile, the Irish-bred formerly known

as Steinbeck has flashed real ability on occasion. Over the winter, he beat Dan

Excel in the Centenary Vase and finished second to Military Attack in the Hong

Kong Gold Cup. Pure Champion's first two runs this season have been subpar, but

Cruz expects him to be a "different horse" Sunday.

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