King Kong Mile Draws Field of Monsters
The King Kong Mile, held in Hong Kong, has a full field of well bred monsters competing for a very rich $1.5 million purse. The mile distance race is open to horses age 3 and up and will be held on the turf surface. Here’s a peak at the contestants:
1-TEX FORCE ONE 15/1-won 4 of 5 in first half of season including a pair of G1 races. Has quieted down since then in last three finishing off board in each outing. Has hit 113 top speed in last pair of races. Last time out, finished 9th in the Breeders’ Bowl Mile after running near leader early on. This was first time he faced older horses and will reunite with several others that competed in same Breeders’ Bowl event. Form has shifted from earlier this year and is a concern in this big race.
2-MORNING OF THUNDER 21/1-put in nice late closing maneuver in the Breeders’ Bowl Mile closing from 10 back at the half and 17th position to finish 5th by 2-strides and with older aged runners. Has won three of last 5 including pair of G2 events and one G1. Speeds of 113 were notched in last two races, both career bests. Powerful late kick could be enough to run down early runners with a nice price to boot.
3-DARKENESS COME 21/1-Surprise 10/1 winner in Melbourne Guineas in last, pulling away from field by 2 strides and career top speed of 118. This came after a drought of four off-the-board grade level races. A nice late kick runner could do it again and he may desire more distance as he came up short in the preceding four races. He could surprise again at a bigger price but will take on older horses for the first time.
4-TEMPLE OF FAIT 5/1-one of three co-favorites at 7/1 in Breeders’ Bowl Mile failed to deliver as he finished 10th in the huge 20-horse field and ran flat throughout the race. In the three races prior to the Breeder’s event, he brought home a pair of G1 wins as well as a second place finish in another and kicked out speeds of 115-116 in each of these. Looks capable of a turn-around.
5-FLAMELOPERS 16/1-stunned the Breeders’Bowl Mile field as this young 3-year old took the top spot in a photo finish by a neck and a career best 117 speed. He likes to run in a tight front end position and prior to the Bowl race, he captured a pair of grade race seconds with 110-113 speed figures. He has been ITM 10 of 12 grass races and already beat older runners and will face many of the Bowl field runners once again. Capable of another surprise.
6-RYZE ARETOH 10/1-front runner who has awful outcome in last Golden Hawk (7.5f) finishing 12th after cutting early fractions on the lead. Returns to mile distance where he hit the board in four of five previous starts with solid speeds in 110-114 range. Has the most wins in field with 13 over 25 starts but 2025 season has not been as fruitful as prior years as he has one win in seven starts. Could be the early pace setter but staying in the driver’s seat has not worked well this season.
7-TICA’S CHOICE 8/1-speeds over last five starts have been in very tight 111-113 range with a pair of wins and second place finishes in last three outings, all grade level events. He has a late kick that makes this runner dangerous. He looks to break out of the near-miss second place finishes that have burdened him over the last three races and regain his winning ways composure and gets Proehl in saddle again who missed by a quarter-stride in last. May be a winning combo this time.
8-DEVIL WISH 8/1-challenged early in VIC Champions Mile in last, but tailed off to 5th place finish 108 speed. Had nice win in G2 event in prior race, taking top spot by 3/4-stride and flashy 116 speed. Career has been riddled with good outings with poor finishes (such as his last race) sprinkled around. He usually comes back with a nice performance after a poor outcome, so seeing improvement this time out is definitely in the cards!
9-STARSHARDS 7/1-equalled second career best speed of 115 for third time in Parking Ticket in last start, over 2-strides behind winner, finishing 2nd. Ran 114 speed prior start and also finished 2nd by under a stride. Has hit speeds of 110+ seven times this year in ten starts and ITM in six of these races. Looks to be a factor as he has chalked speeds of 114-115 in three of last four appearances, showing good form.
10-NO ESTOY SEGURO 30/1-won his last start at same 30/1 odds in VIC Champions Mile stunning the field with a career mark 112 speed. Came from 9-off the lead to steal win by quarter stride. Has 9 starts during 2025 with three wins, all were late run efforts. The other 6-races, the late run rockets failed to fire off and he finished off the board each time. Unreliable late runner who has faced older horse four times and with the exception of this last start, he has not been competitive. Lightning could strike twice for this guy, but does not look likely to occur.
11-UNACCREDITED 7/1-has been on a very hot streak winning four G1 races in a row. Only filly in the field scored these victories with speeds of 112-118. She stated the 2025 year battling with the boys in three grade level races where she had favorable speeds of 108-112 which included a second and third place finish. She usually settles about 4-strides off the early runner in the early going and then glides her way to the front end. She has won 9 of 18 turf starts and can compete with the boys. May extend G1 winning streak to a fifth win.
12-GOOD CHOIX 13/1-one more late runner who has 9 starts this season and ITM three times. Between June and October he clipped speeds in the 111-114 range over three grade race starts which included all of this 3 ITM outcomes with a win and pair of seconds. His last start, the Big Shuffle, seems adequately named for this horse as he shuffled back to a 9th place finish with a speed shuffling back to 103. I think this runner can reverse the shuffling in this start and get the speed back up there. Expect a better showing this time.
13-SVENGOOLY 9/1-television celebrity named runner has notched a pair of G2 wins coming into this event by decent 2-stride and 4-stride margins and speeds of 111 and 113 to boot. Prior to these starts, he ran five times in a various G1 races and off the board each time. The drop in levels from G1 to G2 may have boosted this entrants confidence level and awaken this guy who last won a G1 race back in October, 2024.
14-PAUL THE BARBER 7/1-relatively lightly raced this season with five starts he has three wins, two in graded company and one in an allowance race. The wins all came with fabulous 116-118 speeds with smooth late moves to take him to the top. His late move fired up to late in his last start, the Breeders’ Bowl Mile where he was in the 13th spot at the midway point to finish 8th with a 113 speed, missing by just over 2-lengths. Has won over half of his turf stars taking 9 of 15. Also, of his las 7 starts, he has won 5 of these, a positive indication of present form. Another notch to his collection of victories is very possible.
MY PICKS
Breeders’ Bowl Winner Flamelopers speeds have been steadily increasing and he handled older horses in last, looking for repeat with good payout value.
Tica’s Choice has been first or second in last six starts, hard to fault.
Unaccredited is only filly in the field and has nice win streak going, albeit, with the ladies. She has done well against the boys in prior starts and could give them a whooping in this race.