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HORSE TO FOLLOW: SKY JEWELLERY

1st of 12, Club Handicap (C4)
1200m, Happy Valley
Wednesday, January 15

Sky Jewellery joined a select group of horses, featuring some of Hong Kong’s best thoroughbreds of the past decade, when he impressed on debut at Happy Valley on January 14.

The John Size-trained three-year-old swept home under Hugh Bowman to score by a length, putting himself firmly in the frame as a Future Idol.

He became just the 26th horse in the last 10 years to win a Class 4 on debut at Happy Valley. That list includes horses like the world’s highest-earning racehorse of all time, Romantic Warrior, as well as Hong Kong Sprint winners Mr Stunning and Lucky Sweynesse.

Mr Stunning was one of only three in that time for trainer John Size, alongside Group 3 winner and Group 1 performer Champion’s Way and the talented but quirky Happy Surveys. Sky Jewellery became Size’s first Class 4 debutant to win at Happy Valley in six years.

Now, Sky Jewellery will follow a pathway that will lead to next year’s Four-Year-Old Classic Series. 

Owner Tung Moon-fai raced Sun Jewellery, who won the Hong Kong Classic Mile and Hong Kong Classic Cup in 2016 before finishing seventh in the Hong Kong Derby to Werther, while Tung also had the fourth-placed Unique Jewellery in the 2009 Hong Kong Derby. 

The Derby holds a special appeal for Hong Kong owners and Tung will hold high hopes that he can finally claim the race with Sky Jewellery.

While Sun Jewellery could not see out a strong 2000m, Sky Jewellery’s pedigree suggests that 2000m is when we should see him at his peak.

Sky Jewellery is by The Autumn Sun, whose talent extended to 2000m with victory in the Rosehill Guineas. The two best horses from his first crop, both fillies, won Classics at a mile and a half: Autumn Angel took out the ATC Oaks while Coco Sun won the South Australian Derby. Vibrant Sun also won the Australasian Oaks at 2000m.

Sky Jewellery is out of New Zealand 1000 Guineas winner Rollout The Carpet, whose best performances were at a mile. She has already produced a 2800m winner, Pierro Rosso, and 2000m metropolitan performer Bring The Stars. 

There is plenty of 1800m and 2000m prowess further back in his pedigree too, including South African star Charles Dickens, Arkansas Derby winner Muth and prolific staying stallion Silver Hawk.

What is perhaps most significant though is that Sky Jewellery’s damsire is Holy Roman Emperor, a stallion who has had a profound impact in Hong Kong over the last two decades but is yet to make his mark as a broodmare sire in the jurisdiction.

Among his best Hong Kong-trained sons are the recently deceased Designs On Rome, who won four Group 1 races as well as the Hong Kong Derby and Hong Kong Classic Cup; Hong Kong Mile and Hong Kong Classic Mile winner Beauty Only; globetrotting sprinter Rich Tapestry, who remains the only Hong Kong horse to win a Grade 1 on dirt in North America; and stakes-winning speedsters Charles The Great, Lucky Year and Divine Ten.

Sky Jewellery is the seventh winner for Holy Roman Emperor as a damsire in Hong Kong but the best of those so far have been four-time winners Beauty Glory, whose rating peaked at 78, and Melbourne Hall, whose best rating was his debut mark of 57. Reward Smile was the highest-rated of the seven, reaching 83.

As a stallion with such a storied history in Hong Kong, it would be another remarkable feather in Holy Roman Emperor’s cap if he could also emerge as the damsire of a top-class performer in the city.

Sky Jewellery is also a rare commodity in that he was bred by his owner and both sire (The Autumn Sun) and dam (Rollout The Carpet) were raced by Hongkongers. For a jurisdiction with no breeding industry, that is a significant achievement.

Now rated 60, it’s still a long way to go until he reaches the Four-Year-Old Classic Series in the first three months of 2026. He may even run again in Class 4 with his rating before then stepping up in grade.

It will take him matching the feats of Romantic Warrior to go from Happy Valley Class 4 debut winner to Hong Kong Derby champion. However, if he can build on his debut performance there is every reason to think that he is on the right trajectory.

Future Outlook: The early 2026 Hong Kong Derby favourite, he has all the tools to make it to the top ∎

Andrew Hawkins is the Idol Horse Globetrotter. Andrew’s deep passion for international racing has taken him to all corners of the world, including Hong Kong, where he was based for five years. He has worked with media outlets including South China Morning Post, Racing Post, ANZ Bloodstock News, Sky Racing Australia and World Horse Racing, as well as for organisations including the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Victoria Racing Club.

View all articles by Andrew Hawkins.

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