Uphill gallop a new frontier for Hong Kong trainers
The opening of the Conghua Training Centre (CTC) on the Chinese Mainland will offer new opportunities to Hong Kong’s trainers. One of the most exciting is an 1100m turf uphill gallop, the first of its kind available to Hong Kong horsemen.
Hong Kong trainers currently have only 2 tracks at Sha Tin on which to conduct fast work: the turf course proper and the large all-weather track. Horses trained out of CTC will have access to two similar tracks, designed to replicate their Sha Tin equivalent, but also to the uphill gallop, situated adjacent to the back straight at the Conghua site.
The 1100-metre uphill gallop rises at a continuous gradient of 1.5 per cent over the first 1000 metres, with the last 100 metres flat. After a consultation process with jockeys and trainers, a collective decision was made that the gallop would be a turf surface.
Trainer Chris So, who will be among nine handlers to begin dual-site operations when CTC opens in August 2018, believes this exciting new development will be crucial for Hong Kong horsemen into the future.
“Something like this has never happened in Hong Kong before, we’ve never had the space for facilities like the uphill gallop, so it’s very exciting,” So said. “When you look at some of the great training centres of the world – in Japan, in England, even at some centres in Australia – they have uphill gallops, so I think it’s great that Hong Kong trainers will now have access to one.
“It will allow us a way to build up strength and stamina in our horses, which we don’t have currently. It is a different way to prepare our horses, and I think a lot of our horses will be rotated to Conghua for the facilities, including the uphill gallop. I am excited for what is to come.”
For nine-time Champion Trainer John Size, who will also have horses at CTC as part of the first phase, he is awaiting his move to the site before determining how to incorporate facilities like the uphill gallop into his training regime.
By Ritesh Jamkhedkar - ritesh.jamkhedkar@secretariatsworld.com