Full Field Vying for Prestigious King Kong Vase

The Frigid Night looking to freeze out 13 others in chase of the King Kong Vase and $750k.

Here’s a few previous winners.

YEAR	WINNER	OWNER	SPEED FIGURE	MARGIN of WIN in LENGTHS
2009	Not So Cheap	Desertfox	108	1 3/4
2012	Lemon Drop Girl	Gowans	114	2 1/2
2013	Don’t Slip	Lender	111	1 1/2
2014	Superdragon	Given	109	3 1/4
2015	Broken Nails	Lenny271	112	3 1/4
2016	King of Down Under	Liam	112	2 1/2
2019	Cinnamon LV	Bizalls	114	4
2020	Witness Report	Marky4577	115	1
2021	Agent of Sweet	Lenny271	116	3/4
2022	Takavacho	Mano	118	3 1/4

A few notes on this list of King Kong Vase winners. After the 2012 race, not one winner raced more than 28 career starts. Three of these horses won four Grade 1 races in their career. The first was 2014 winner, Superdragon. He earned $3.5m for Given. Cinnamon LV won $6.5m in purses for Bizalls. Takavacho has won $3.75m in career earnings and is still racing. The 4-year-old gelded son of Brian Boru was recently third in the Breeders Bowl Turf. A talented group of runners for sure but also on the list is some very prominent and great owners of our game.

The choice in the market is Given’s The Frigid Night (#3, 5-1). A Galileo colt from the Tapit mare The Coldest Day. This colt was off-the-board just once last season and it included a good second in the Exploded Stakes. He took a new speed badge of 118 in April and he’s been a consistent performer since then. Three back in a Local Irish Stakes win he beat Jack’s Broken who has since gone on to win a Grade 3 event in New Zealand. Two back, Night won again, this time beating Let’s Try That who he meets again here. Last time out was a romping front-running score in the Grade 3 Paris Counsel. He loves the distance has the class and has been prepping for almost 7 weeks. It’s a given he’ll be tough to handle on Saturday.

It’s very hard not to like Winterset’s Parrish Sea (#9, 17-1). In late summer the Sea the Stars colt was beating his peers in dominating fashion. When we came upon this budding star at Canada’a biggest Turf event in September we wrote:

Parrish Sea won in Canada like a colt with a bright future. With his terrific bloodlines its not hard to see this colt being a division star or horse of the year candidate. Even though he’s won three Graded races in-a-row it looks like we can expect much more from this horse. He’s a horse to fear on Saturday.  

John5539 Racing has Brazilian Bomb (#12, 6-1) a 5-year-old gelded son of Alpha. His 2022 campaign was a building one. Late in the year it was clear Bomb was very good on turf going long. His best races were produced late in the season. The wins kept coming after the calendar changed and everything culminated in a win in the Grade 3 Geo Classic. He was strong all the way and ran a new speed badge of 122. He’s been facing the best in the division since that win and he’s been proving to be a tough customer. Last time out in the Breeders’ Bowl Turf he faded late to get beat 15 lengths. Interestingly after a quartet of very tough races the connections send him out again here in Hong Kong searching for his first Grade 1 victory.

We last saw Punter34’s Commitment Wanted (#5, 8-1) seven weeks ago in Victoria. The 4-year-old son of Macho Uno from the Grade 2 winning mare Franjola’s Impact. He’s won 5 races from his last 8. He can be put into the race early and still be charging hard through the final quarter. He won a Grade 2 three races back and backed up that form with a terrific second in the Coffeefields Cup. He’s been nicely spotted here after some prep and is a very logical contender.

Trotter’s Concrete King (#6, 9-1) a Japanese bred is looking for his first Graded win. Last season the gelded son of Bricks and Mortar raced exclusively at 12 panels on turf. He was Graded placed and established a speed badge of 119 when a close second in the Southern Bird King. Early this campaign, after a stakes victory, he was a game second in the Grade 1 John Scott losing to multiple Grade 1 winner Takavacho. He immediately went off form against some tough company this spring even losing in a high claiming race in Japan. Connections made a change and sent the bay gelding very long in the last two starts. Although he produced an NW2n win these connections have aimed him back to 12 furlongs on turf in the prestigious King Kong Vase.

If you only take one thing from this race it should be this. Try your Blue Point’s going long on the grass. Coyote knows this well. He had Coyote Ambassador (#10, 14-1) swinging away at sprints as a juvenile. When it wasn’t working he got put away. When he emerged at three he was a dangerous come-from-behind turf distance runner. At the end of his 3-year-old season he romped in a NW3L in Japan and his speed badge was a 111. He contiued to grind through his conditions for most of this campaign until he duplicated his 111. That was last time out in the Secret River. He was only fourth in the event so he has more improvement to do as he meets the starter in a very tough Grade 1 KK Vase.

Beisbol has Let’s Try That (#8, 12-1) by Ten Sovereigns from the Awesome Again Stakes-winning mare Donny’s Girl. This bay was doing extremely well during a stretch of 8 races. Only one time did the horse finish worse than second. But it wasn’t enough from the connections to keep him away from Dr. Snip-Snip. The shrewd connections then found a high claimer in Minnesota to ease their charge back into the racing wars and he took off. Winning twice with big numbers earned Let’s Try That a trip to Germany for his first Stakes event. He was valiant in defeat posting a new speed badge of 115. He was just as good last time out when second in the Grade 1 Grand Carlos. His record on turf at this distance is three wins and two seconds from 5 races. He’s a legit contender for a high percentage trainer.

Three very lightly raced horses will meet the starter on Saturday to contest the King Kong Vase. Kymar’s Lorne Skoda (#14, 38-1) has never been off the board in 7 starts. It took 5 of those to get the maiden win which came in South Africa over 11 panels of grass. The 3-year-old gelded son of Americain came right back to score in a NW2L before tripling up by winning the Dan Colony last time out. He stormed home to win going away and set a new speed badge of 115. It’s very close to the figure needed to win this event. He was also given plenty of time to recover and prepare for this race. He’s one with upside and a real shot to make a good rally late.

Tulloch’s Lorne Bilome (#2, 20-1) has the exact same setup coming into this event as Lorne Skoda. Bilome is a 3-year-old filly by Dubawi who took four races to break her maiden. She did it going long on the Surrey turf. She then won two more times in Surrey allowance races before crushing the field in the Ghirlanda in Paris. She also took a lifetime best speed mark last time out of 114. The filly can stalk and pounce and loves the 12 furlong distance. She tackles older Graded company and is looking to cap off a Cinderella type season by taking the Vase.

Another lightly raced turf prospect is Vyz’s Outback Feud (#4, 12-1). The 4-year-old colt by Candy Ride ran a 111 speed mark in just its fourth trip to post. For an encore the colt went last-to-first in the Orange Swirl stakes in June while setting a new speed badge of 118. His last two efforts came in Graded company at marathon distances and he was lacking the power late. The colt has been handled perfectly by a high percentage barn and they’ve regrouped to this event Saturday. His best speed can win which is giving them the confidence to try.  

When looking through the record of Oldmoonfarms Extreme Cuffs (#1, 9-1). He has a big speed mark of 117 early this season. It came when second in a NW4L in Victoria. He was beat by Newhook who went on and won a Grade 2. His only win this season came five back in a New Zealand allowance tilt. But he’s been knocking heads with several of his rivals since then. Two back he closed ground to be 4^th with Spider Tack behind him. Last time out he was a good third in the Grade 1 Jockey’s Weapon which was won by multiple Grade 1 winner Takavacho. That day Cuffs kept Pharoah Seeks Gold about 7 lengths behind him. Speaking of Oldmoonfarms …

I didn’t know Mike Beal, we both live in Canada and love this game so I know it was my loss. If you didn’t read the very good BTB piece last week. Please look it up and give it a scan. It’s worth the few minutes. The title was:

G1, The Oldmoonfarms Mile: In memory of one of our lost members.  Thanks.

Harrylan has done a wonderful job keeping 6-year-old, Voted In (#7, 7-1) sharp for this Saturday. The nicely bred son of Deep Impact is just a one-time winner in 2023 but that win came in the Grade 2 Sandy Ray. He scored with a very competitive 117 figure. After the score he’s kept good racing company and has a few placings in key events. In August his powerful late kick was gaining on the winner Pharoah Seeks Gold but he ran out of ground. Last time in his prep for this he had too much to do late and finished 6^th. The winner that day was Spider Tack and he meets him again for the KK Vase.

Spider Tack (#13, 9-1) from the PadriBri Barn comes off a very good prep run 34 days ago. In the War Ransom, he stalked and took over late doing just what was required to win. As stated before, he beat Voted In who has been tabbed at 7’s in the market for the Vase. Certainly Spider seems to be just as good right now so you do get a little value in his 9-1 offering. The Irish bred took a new speed badge of 115 four back when finishing behind Outback Feud in the Orange Swirl. He’s in form and trying for his first Graded stakes win.

Age hasn’t caught up with Stockswami’s Pharoah Seeks Gold (#11, 12-1). In fact, the opposite is true. The 5-year-old beautiful roan horse is better than ever. After winning just once last season the son of American Pharoah from the Grade 1 winning Zen’s Lady of Gold is thriving as he matures. A winner of four-straight to start the season including a smashing win two back in the Grade 3 Stockholm. He ran away from the competition that day including Voted In who ran second. Last time out in the Grade 1 Jockey’s Weapon he was stalking the pace but faded when the real running began. He’s been training and getting ready for almost two months since his latest so he should be able to put his best on the track Saturday.

Fastest Speed Badge	Fastest Speed LTO	Fastest Speed @ Distance	Earnings	12f Turf Wins
Brazilian Bomb	Parrish Sea	Brazilian Bomb	Parrish Sea	Pharoah Seeks Gold
Concrete King	Lorne Skoda	Concrete King	Commitment Wanted	The Frigid Night
The Frigid Night	Lorne Bilome	The Frigid Night	Brazilian Bomb	Concrete King
Outback Feud	Commitment Wanted	Extreme Cuffs	Concrete King	Lorne Bilome
Extreme Cuffs	The Frigid Night	Voted In	The Frigid Night	Parrish Sea
Voted In	Spider Tack	Parrish Sea	Voted In	Commitment Wanted
Parrish Sea	Coyote Ambassador	Let’s Try That	Let’s Try That	Voted In