No horse declared to run in the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) has won more races this season than Emblazon, and trainer Cody Mo hopes his progressive galloper can fulfil a lifelong dream on Sunday afternoon (22 March) at Sha Tin.<\/p>
Mo, who has 26 winners this season, is confident Emblazon is well placed for his stamina-testing jump to 10 furlongs, which the 88-rater will make against 13 opponents, having raced exclusively over 1200m and 1400m across his initial eight starts.<\/p>
\u201cI think for the worldwide industry \u2013 every owner, trainer, jockey and stable staff \u2013 the Derby is the most important race and it is a dream for us all. To have one in the race, I am grateful for that. But if I was to win, it would be a dream come true,\u201d Mo said.<\/p>
Owned by the Military King\u2019s Syndicate, Emblazon has made a sparkling ascent from a rating of 49 at the start of this season to reach his current peak, achieved on 1 March with a quality-laden success in Class 2 \u2013 his debut in the grade \u2013 under Jerry Chau at Sha Tin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>
\u201cI think he\u2019s in top form right now, and his win last start was better than I thought. He\u2019s been very consistent this season and he\u2019s improved a lot,\u201d Mo said. \u201cHe galloped yesterday (Wednesday, 18 March) \u2013 he\u2019s working well.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Emblazon wins his fourth consecutive race at Sha Tin.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Handling 2000m is an unknown for most of the BMW Hong Kong Derby line-up. Only rivals Numbers and Seraph Gabriel have attempted the trip in Hong Kong, but it\u2019s an opportunity that Mo is excited to take as he prepares for Sunday\u2019s running, which also features Little Paradise, Stormy Grove, Sagacious Life, Invincible Ibis, Patch Of Cosmo, Beauty Bolt, Top Dragon, Regal Gem, Juneau Pride, Dazzling Fit and Pope Cody.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>
Mo said: \u201cHis form shows all of us that he keeps improving, but the one question is the 2000 metres. No one knows whether he will handle the distance of the Derby, but he\u2019s a four-year-old, and anything can happen.\u201d<\/p>
As Ping Hai Star did successfully in 2018, Emblazon will aim to secure victory in the 149th edition of the BMW Hong Kong Derby following a hat-trick of 1400m wins at Sha Tin.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s drawn eight. He\u2019s very relaxed in races; he can sit midfield or forward a little bit, and if he can handle 2000 metres, then I think he has a very good chance,\u201d Mo said.<\/p>
Now in his third season of training, Mo boasts 86 career wins in Hong Kong, including 40 during a breakout 2024\/25 campaign, topped by a 2025 HK$4.2 million G3 Lion Rock Trophy Handicap (1600m) triumph with Pray For Mir.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”15838″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Mo has been at Sha Tin his entire career, working for David Hall, Benno Yung and David Ferraris. However, the majority of that time has been spent under the wing of legendary racing figure Tony Cruz, successfully campaigning heroes Silent Witness and Bullish Luck in Japan.\u00a0<\/p>
\u201cI was a rider with Tony Cruz but now as a trainer, I\u2019m very lucky to have another Derby runner in my third year. It\u2019s my second year having a horse in the Derby (after Markwin in 2025). I\u2019m so thankful for the owner\u2019s support. We just need some luck,\u201d Mo said.<\/p>
Emblazon was winless in two starts last season \u2013 beaten by a combined nine and a half lengths \u2013 before reeling off four consecutive victories this campaign among his five career wins.<\/p>
\u201cThe horse has surprised us because the first year I trained him, he wasn\u2019t as strong, but after one year he has improved and gotten stronger \u2013 everything has gone up and up \u2013 and I\u2019m looking forward to the race,\u201d Mo said.<\/p>
Sunday\u2019s (22 March) 10-race programme at Sha Tin begins with the Class 4 Luger Handicap (1600m) at 1pm. The 149th BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m), worth HK$26 million, is scheduled as Race 7 at 4.05pm.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”15837″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]No horse declared to run in the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) has won more races this season than Emblazon, and trainer Cody Mo hopes his progressive galloper can fulfil a lifelong dream on Sunday afternoon (22 March) at Sha Tin.Mo, who has 26 winners this season, is confident… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":15840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15835"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15835"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15845,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15835\/revisions\/15845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}