There were no surprises when the nominees for the Champion Awards were announced on Wednesday, but perhaps the most intriguing gong to be decided is Champion Miler with three worthy winners vying for the honour.
Group One Champions Mile winner My Wish, Group One Hong Kong Mile victor Voyage Bubble and champion galloper Romantic Warrior look hard to split in what could prove a head-scratcher for the six-member judging panel.
My Wish won three eligible races under the award’s criteria – races over 1,400m to below 1,800m – with the Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m) and Group Three Celebration Cup (1,400m) his other victories.
Voyage Bubble, the reigning Champion Miler, defended his crown in December’s Hong Kong Mile with a tough performance from barrier 12.
While that was his only triumph of the term, Ricky Yiu Poon-fai’s stable star added a third placing behind Romantic Warrior in the city’s other Group One mile, the Stewards’ Cup in January.
