It may have been a conditions race, but Little Paradise’s victory in the Hong Kong Classic Mile last weekend, the first leg of the jurisdiction’s four-year-old Classic series, has already got people talking.
Sunday's heroics saw Little Paradise shoot into our Global Rankings at #560, our guru James Willoughby certain he “should rank significantly higher and is therefore a reason to tune in to the next leg of the Triple Crown in a few weeks.”
Delivering his weekly report from the Hong Kong beat on Wednesday, JA McGrath told the Nick Luck Daily he didn’t want to “go the early crow”, but Little Paradise seemed a horse “for whom the Derby and other big local races are now calling.”
By the European-based Toronado, the gelding was bred in Australia and is trained by Jimmy Ting. He has raced only at Sha Tin, getting off the mark on debut in March 2025 and winning his subsequent start for good measure.
He reemerged with a winning return in September before finishing third in November, but soon regained his form with Sunday’s success being his third consecutive victory.
As McGrath explained, the upstart’s sire has had a degree of success in both hemispheres, but it’s in Hong Kong that he has made a particular mark, given he’s responsible for the likes of Helios Express, Victor The Winner, and the three-time winner Lucky Express.
“They would be the best of them [Hong Kong horses sired by Toronado] before this fellow,” McGrath continued, “The way that Litte Paradise won the Classic Mile who, of those we’ve seen, is going to beat him in either the Classic Cup or the Derby?”
Describing the Classic Mile, McGrath said the winner “relaxed so beautifully under Vincent Ho that he was able to deliver a dazzling turn of foot that blew the opposition away.”
McGrath, however, reiterated the caveat that it’s “early days”, even if he thought it exciting to find “another equine hero in the making.”
He added that Ting, a former apprentice jockey who has sent out nearly 200 winners, “deserves a good horse” and “this might just be the one to lift his profile.”
Vincent Ho, who rode Little Paradise to success, was on today's podcast and called his mount “a special horse”, explaining that he’d been aboard in exercise the morning before the race and “felt he’s going to be a nice horse” when he started to canter.
Describing his experience of the contest itself, Ho said Little Paradise delivered a “really impressive turn of foot” when asked for an effort, though he admitted the fact he’d been held up probably make it a more impressive watch.
“We’ll definitely see him in a Group 1 in the future,” Ho stated. “He’s a good enough horse to be in a Group 1 for sure and I can also be certain he can handle 1800m.”
Sunday’s fixture was Little Paradise’s first step up to 1600m and a start in the Classic Cup, which Ho confirmed as his likely next target, would require a step up to the aforementioned 1800m.
By way of confirmation of his confidence, Ho went so far as to add that “after the Classic Mile, I felt he could also handle 2000m.”
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