Tastiera stamps class

FWD QEII Cup (Group 1)

Chairman’s Sprint Prize (Group 1)

FWD Champions Mile (Group 1)

JAPANESE challenger Tastiera dominated the HK$28 million Group 1 FWD QEII Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday.

The five-year-old, winner in 2023 of the Group 1 Tokyo Yushun, was improving on his third to Romantic Warrior in the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup in December.

The race was marred, however, by a fatal injury to Japan’s 2023 Triple Tiara winner Liberty Island.

She met slight interference about two furlongs out and was pulled up by rider Yuga Kawada.

Her owners Sunday Racing confirmed later: “She had torn the medial and lateral sesamoid ligaments of her left front leg, and the fetlock joint was subluxated, so the fetlock joint was touching the ground.”

Class

Tastiera stamped his class on an international field, beating fellow Japanese raider Prognosis by a length and three quarters under Damian Lane for trainer Noriyuki Hori.

“Noriyuki Hori is an amazing conditioner of horses and this horse is just a star,” Lane said.

“It’s a great success for Carrot Farm. I just feel privileged and lucky to be here on these days, let alone having great chances on these horses.” It was Japan’s seventh win in the contest since 2002.

Tastiera broke well and settled into fourth in the back straight as New Zealand’s El Vencedor carved out the early fractions under Zac Purton.

Fancied runners Goliath, Liberty Island and Prognosis raced further towards the rear in a steadily run race.

Tastiera travelled up strongly to the quarters of El Vencedor and Cap Ferrat, and into the home straight, raced into a clear lead.

He never looked like being caught and scored comfortably by a length and three-quarters, with Lane punching the air in delight after the line.

Prognosis, runner-up for the last two years for fellow Japanese trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida, filled the same position again.

Bahrain’s Calif produced an excellent effort to clinch third. French raider Goliath, finished ninth and lacked a turn of foot in the closing stages.

SUPERSTAR Hong Kong sprinter Ka Ying Rising completed a record-equalling season with scintillating victory in the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize. Taking his unbeaten record to 12 consecutive races, he beat a field of 12 rivals and completed a clean sweep of the Hong Kong Speed Series, collecting a HK$5 million bonus for trainer David Hayes.

Living up to his title of the world’s highest-rated sprinter, the four-year-old Shamexpress gelding was eased down by Zac Purton to win by two and a quarter lengths from Japanese raider Satono Reve and Helios Express.

Drawn in four, Ka Ying Rising raced in fifth behind the speed, and had the race at his mercy once Purton eased him and accelerated at the 250metres to cruise to an effortless victory for his fourth successive Group 1 win. He will be prepared for his biggest pay day and first international assignment in the world’s richest turf race, the Group 1 The Everest at Randwick in October.

Purton said: “What more can you say? Every time you come out here, he produces something special and he did that again today and he didn’t even change his leg. He puts them away very quickly. He’s getting better and better. He can have a break now and the next one is the big one.

Hayes said: “It’s a good effort to do the Triple Crown and he’s only four, so I think we’ve got a lot to look forward to in the coming seasons.”

Irish-bred Lion roars

Second in this race last year, Red Lion scored a surprise victory in the Group 1 FWD Champions Mile by a short-head over Voyage Bubble for jockey Hugh Bowman and trainer John Size.

Red Lion, who began his career in Ireland with Andy Slattery, winning at Dundalk and the Curragh in 2022, became the longest-priced winner in the race’s history as the six-year-old Irish-bred Belardo gelding made all, and held on after an inquiry as stewards deliberated following slight contact between Red Lion and Voyage Bubble near the line.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s former Chairman Ronald Arculli and his wife Johanna who raced Red Cadeaux and River Verdon, own Red Lion.

Jockey Hugh Bowman told reporters: “It’s fantastic. He’s a very consistent, courageous horse. I didn’t really expect to lead but full credit to John and his team because they’ve turned him out in fantastic order and with a little bit of moisture in the ground, it certainly assisted his chances and I’m just so proud of him.”

“Today he showed the determination of a real racehorse – he looked like he thought he could win the race and he decided he would. He just kept going and kept fighting – under the circumstances, it’s very hard to beat a horse in that frame of mind,” trainer Size said.

Popular Australian challenger Mr Brightside was the disappointment of the race and rider Craig Williams said: “I was under pressure from the top of the straight and he just failed to find, which is very unusual for him.”