LONGINES HONG KONG
VASE (Group 1)
EXULTANT and Lys Gracieux served up a finish to the Hong Kong Vase of such gripping drama that it raised the Sha Tin faithful to their feet.
The Joao Moreira-ridden Japanese filly headed Exultant with 150 metres to go, only for Hong Kong’s newest hero to fight back under Zac Purton, scoring by a neck.
Elation greeted the sight of Exultant’s head flashing past the post, a neck to the good over Lys Gracieux. The Irish import became only the third Hong Kong-trained runner to claim the mile and a half feature following Indigenous (1998) and Dominant (2013).
“He’s just an out and out stayer and we decided to put him up on the pace today against a quality field and just let him grind it out,” Purton said. “He’s the type of horse that if he’s going to get into a fight in the last 200 metres over a distance like this, you’d like to be on his back.”
But even Purton thought the race had gone when Lys Gracieux rattled to the fore. “Joao had the momentum. But my bloke just seemed to be loafing along a little bit and as Joao came to me he actually rolled in and bumped my horse - that seemed to fire him back up and he found his second wind then.”
For Cruz, the win was a first in the Vase and completed a full set of all four Hong Kong International Races.
“I’m over the moon, we all are,” he said. “This season he’s stronger, he’s more experienced, he knows his game better and he had a perfect run - Zac rode a perfect race.”
Exultant arrived in Hong Kong ahead of last season, having placed third in the Irish 2000 Guinea for Michael Halford. The Teofilo four-year-old proved his merit when third in the Hong Kong Derby in March and built upon that when second to Pakistan Star in the Group 1 Champions & Chater Cup.
“As he’s getting older he’s getting stronger and better,” Cruz said. “He’s got that one speed and a lot of stamina. The Sheema Classic in Dubai would be a possibility. I’ll have to decide with the owner but we’ll definitely make some entries overseas and consider those.”
The front pair drew two and a half lengths clear of third-placed Eziyra, trained by Dermot Weld.
“She had a dream run through behind the winner and she has a lot of stamina,” jockey Christophe Lemaire said. “She just lacked an instant reaction but she fought all the way to the line.”
Mark Weld, assistant trainer to his father, said: “Christophe Lemaire gave her an amazing ride, she was in a great position all the way round. She has run a fantastic, fantastic race - I think she was the first European runner home in what is arguably the toughest contest on the day. It was a fantastic performance.” Rostropovich finished seventh and Latrobe 11th. Second favourite Pakistan Star came home sixth of 14 after hitting trouble in what was a rough race.
His rider William Buick received a ban for causing interference to both Waldgeist and Red Verdon when going for a gap with a couple of furlongs to race. The Hong Kong Jockey Club stewards suspended him from December 17th to January 28th 2019, which is equivalent to 12 Hong Kong racedays. Buick was also fined HK$20,000 for the rule breach which he will appeal.
Beauty Generation soars to an emphatic success
LONGINES HONG KONG
MILE (GROUP 1)
JOHN Moore has already produced one star miler to grace the highest reaches of the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings in Able Friend but the trainer was proclaiming Beauty Generation superior, after Zac Purton steered him to an imperious three-length success in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile.
Japanese-trained mare Vivlos ended her career with a sterling effort to claim second from Southern Legend but by that stage, Purton was already savouring certain victory, easing Beauty Generation down.
Purton was held three wide from his outside stall in 12 but was able to slot over to the rail before the 800 metres.
Two furlongs out, Purton still had plenty of horse under him, and, under a hand ride, Beauty Generation streaked away for one of the easiest victories in recent Longines Hong Kong International races history.
“That’s what we all hoped we’d see today, I’m just happy for the horse that he’s come out and produced it on a big stage,” said Purton, who was making it HKIR win number eight following his Vase triumph with Exultant earlier.
“His best attribute is he has got a very high cruising speed, he’s very comfortable rolling along at that speed and he can kick off it,” said Purton.
“For the horses back in the field they’re already struggling to go the pace and when you’ve got to try and reel him in, it’s not an easy thing to do.”
John Moore was in no doubt that we had witnessed the best of the lot. “That’s the most impressive by far. What he did today, he was taken on inside, he had to do it the hard way as far as I was concerned. Once he got to the front he has high RPMs [revs per minute], he got him up and away he went. As far as I could see he wasn’t even hit.”
Moore is keen to show Beauty Generation’s brilliance away from Sha Tin and will be doing his best to convince his owner, Patrick Kwok, that this is a horse that needs to light up the biggest meetings around the world.
“The owner and his father are of the opinion that they don’t come back the same horse when they travel but I’m trying to convince them that that’s not the case with the way I travel my horses.”
“I’d love to travel him, to take him to Dubai where everyone says right, here’s the top three in the world.”
European challengers One Master was eighth and Beat The Bank 11th.
Another Stunning Sprint showdown
LONGINES HONG KONG
SPRINT (Group 1)
IN a remarkable repeat of the 2017 edition, Mr Stunning again won the six-furlong Longines Hong Kong Sprint, at the expense of the same horse, D B Pin, in a landmark success for his trainer and jockey.
Mr Stunning was trained by John Size last year, but is now in the hands of Frankie Lor who was able to claim his first Group 1 win. It was also a first Group 1 win in Hong Kong for jockey Karis Teetan.
“He had a lovely trip through the race and I’m just so happy. It’s incredible. I’ve never felt like this. It’s the first time I’ve heard the crowd shouting like this. I just knew when I pressed the button he was going to go,” Teetan said.
Mr Stunning was ably handled by the Mauritian jockey. “When Ivictory went forward to put some pressure on Hot King Prawn, I was pretty happy about that. My horse never travels too hard in a race but he was really so relaxed underneath me today,” he added.
Mr Stunning won by a neck margin over then stablemate D B Pin last year, and extended the break to three-quarters of a length this year.
“I’m very happy,” Lor said, “Karis did a great job out there. It took me a long time to get a trainer’s licence so I need to try my best to keep going and train more Group 1 winners. I think John (Size) might also be happy because I worked for him and he was a great boss.”
Glorious day for Lor
HONG KONG CUP
(Group 1)
FRANKIE Lor, in just his second season of training, claimed a fantastic double when British-bred Glorious Forever claimed the flagship HK$28 million Longines Hong Kong Cup.
The win followed Lor’s earlier success with Mr Stunning in the Hong Kong Sprint and came on a day when all four feature races fell - for the first time - to Hong Kong trainers.
Glorious Forever, ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, defied his elder brother Time Warp and two classy Japanese challengers to lead throughout in the Cup in a performance which fulfilled the promise he’s shown for some time.
The Archipenko gelding, bred by Landwades Stud’s Kirsten Rausing held out late-closing Japanese filly Deirdre to win by a length with his brother and regular recent adversary Time Warp a short-head back in third place.
“This is special. Yes, today is amazing for me, I can’t believe it.
“For me, it’s my dream to get more good horses and win the big races and to win these two races today is amazing,” Lor said.
pushed hard
“I talked to Silvestre yesterday and said ‘if he jumped good try to take the lead and if Time Warp pushed too hard then he could take the sit behind him’. We drew one and Time Warp seven so that made a difference,” Lor said.
The three-time British champion jockey is no stranger to major race success but this was his first Group 1 in his temporary home and was achieved with clinical precision.
“Everything was in my favour,” de Sousa said, “the draw was perfect for riding a horse who could be one or two in the run. Everything went to the plan.
“I didn’t want to overdo it in front but to make sure Time Warp didn’t come around, I had to make sure we were going a true gallop. I won the battle for the first 300 metres and I was going so well at the 800 (metres), I thought to myself they would have to be very good to pick him up.”
STEAMED HOME
Deirdre steamed home from the back but the early fractions gave her a herculean task.
Time Warp was brave in third given he was unable to take up his favoured front-running role:
Lor would not be drawn on immediate plans for Glorious Forever but didn’t rule out an international mission.
“I’ll need to talk to the owners first and I’ll need to have a good look at the overseas programmes so it’s a maybe,” he said.