Leung Ho Yin, Simon's Bio
Simon is a well respected full-time thoroughbred racing commentator specializing in overseas international racing. Bringing with him a wealth of racing knowledge, Simon is the host and race caller for the overseas simulcast programme since 2008/09 season. He is currently the presenter on several racing television programmes including, ‘Racing Horizon’ and ‘Horse Racing – Results’.

Kranji Racecourse – Track Analysis (Kranji Mile Day):

Though being a level and spacious track, the Kranji Racecourse features two separate, left-handed far turns (the Short Course and the Long Course), and it remains interesting to see which configuration is in use on race day.

For the turf-only card on this weekend’s Kranji Mile Day, races will be contested on either the Short Course, with only a mere 400m stretch run, or the Long Course, where runners will have 450m to battle it out from the top of the lane to the finish. As per usual at Kranji, forwardly-placed runners generally dominate over the Short Course, particularly if the going is good to firm, whereas deep closers truly need that extra stretch of ground over the Long Course, as per the par on turf at Kranji, to reel in their competition.

At the 1200m marker, where fields for the SIN G1 Lion City Cup, and a Class 3 Handicap and a pair of Class 4 Handicaps will all break from, horses will travel about 300m through the backside before hitting the far turn, and outside-drawn runners will be floated wide if they cannot drop over to the rail soon enough. Rather, with a full 600m run on the backstretch for the Singapore Guineas and the featured Kranji Mile – both being SIN G1 prizes, and also a Class 4 Handicap, runners do have plenty of time to find their choice spots, thus stall assignments bear less weight. Meanwhile, the 1400m Class 2 Handicap field will also have 400m of the backstretch to negotiate before switching leads for the turn, and high stall numbers are likewise still manageable.

In the 2018 running of the Kranji Mile, when the turf was listed as yielding, Hong Kong’s brazen SOUTHERN LEGEND got the first jump on the field while breaking sharply, never relinquished his lead, and simply showed this SIN G1 field the whole way home unchallenged, while HORSE OF FORTUNE, also representing Hong Kong, and NOVA STRIKE, both sent forward early likewise, could only manage to hold on for second and third respectively.

Reviewing the recent night meeting at Kranji on 17th May, when two of the eight races were both 1400m events carded on good turf over the Long Course, both winners did route their competition from out wide, yet the strip, in general, was still playing fair to all kinds of running styles.

With rain and occasional thunderstorms coursing through the Lion City – which looks to be the same case extending towards Saturday – Kranji will probably contend with a wet track on deck. Should the weather improve just in time, forwardly-placed runners would still continue to dominate the competition, particularly at sprints; yet if the rain persists, deep closers may turn the table.

Disclaimer:
The above content and information are the personal views and/or opinions of each individual writer and do not represent the views of The Hong Kong Jockey Club and/or its subsidiaries (together, the "HKJC"). The content and information are provided by the writers solely for entertainment purpose only, and should not be construed as a suggestion for anyone to place any bet nor should they be taken and/or relied upon as advice of any kind. The above content and information have not been verified, confirmed and/or endorsed by HKJC and HKJC shall not be liable to any person for any loss or damage suffered by such person as a result of any use or reliance of the above content or information.

HKJC shall not be required to give and does not give any warranty, whether express or implied, arising out of or in connection with the content or information. The Club disclaims any responsibility and accepts no liability (whether in tort, contract or otherwise) for any direct or indirect loss of damage arising from any inaccuracies, omission or typographical errors that may be contained therein. The Club also does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or fitness for purpose of any such information.