Flash gets Beauty of a trip in HK Mile

Last updated: 12/12/10 7:34 PM

Beauty Flash ended up playing the role envisioned for gate scratch Able One
(Hong Kong Jockey Club)

A local horse prevailed for the fifth straight year in the $2.1 million Hong
Kong Mile (HK-G1) on Sunday, but not the one widely anticipated. Instead of Hong
Kong’s current champion miler Able One (Cape Cross [Ire]), who was a last-minute
scratch at the gate, or even reigning Mile three-peater Good Ba Ba (Lear Fan),
who was hoping to return to his glory days, it was Kwok Siu Ming’s BEAUTY FLASH
(Golan [Ire]) who did the honors for the home team.

Without an abundance of early speed in the line-up, Able One figured to get
an ideal trip either on the lead, or parked very close to it. Unfortunately, the
John Moore charge never had a chance to compete after developing an ill-timed
injury. As Able One went down to the post, jockey Darren Beadman felt that he
was not moving properly and informed the veterinary officer. Upon examination,
the eight-year-old, who has overcome a string injuries over the course of his
career, was found to be lame in his left hind leg and was promptly withdrawn by
order of the stewards.

In Able One’s absence, Beauty Flash inherited his forecast trip, stalking
right off the flank of pacesetter Sight Winner (Faltaat) through fractions of
:24 3/5 and :47 3/5. All this time, English invader Paco Boy (Ire) (Desert
Style) was enduring perhaps the worst possible passage at Sha Tin. Stuck out
wide while racing at the back of the pack, he appeared to be overeager as he saw
nothing but daylight ahead of him, and it was becoming clear that this career
finale was not at all going according to plan.

By the time that Sight Winner reached the six-furlong mark in 1:11 3/5,
Beauty Flash was throwing down the gauntlet under a well-judged ride by Gerald
Mosse. Beauty Flash brushed Sight Winner in short order to take command, and he
had plenty in reserve to repel a host of challengers. The French mare Sahpresa (Sahm)
loomed boldly in midstretch, but couldn’t quite peg back the winner. Her fellow
Gallic raider Rajsaman (Linamix) was also in the hunt, along with Japanese hope
A Shin Forward (Forest Wildcat), although neither of them looked like giving
Beauty Flash any sort of scare.

Royal Bench (right) rallied from a virtually hopeless position
(Hong Kong Jockey Club)

Then another French colt, Royal Bench (Whipper), came from the clouds to
spice up the finish. Previously loping in the rear with Paco Boy, Royal Bench
left him for dead in the stretch as he unleashed a ferocious late kick and was
gaining ground hand over fist. Beauty Flash had nicked too great an advantage,
however, and Royal Bench’s thrust fell three-quarters of a length short.

Beauty Flash negotiated the metric mile in 1:34 3/5 on the good turf to win
for the first time in nearly 11 months, since his victory in the January 24 Hong
Kong Classic Mile (HK-G1) over the same course. The five-year-old chestnut
gelding was handing trainer Tony Cruz his second Mile trophy, following Lucky
Owners in 2003.

“It’s good to be here and win for Hong Kong because Hong Kong does a lot for
the races,” Mosse said. “I knew Beauty Flash had won a Group 1 going forward, so
we took a good start and even though I couldn’t actually lead, I was happy to be
camped on the speed. The more I asked of him, the more he gave.

“I felt the horse pick up by himself and he ran on like a superstar,” Mosse
added.

“It’s all a matter of timing,” Cruz said of Beauty Flash’s revival.
“Sometimes you can’t push a horse too hard when you’re riding him or training
him, but sometimes you know when to ask him, and he’d been so well in the last
few weeks, I was very confident that he must finish in the first three.”

Olivier Peslier was thrilled with Royal Bench’s performance.

“We were pushed wide on the home turn and yet the horse finished like a
train,” Peslier said. “It shows how good he is, and I think his connections will
have good fun with him in the next few months. I hear he could be headed to
Dubai.”

Another half-length back in third came a gallant Sahpresa. A Shin Forward and
Rajsaman dead-heated for fourth and were trailed by Thumbs Up (Shinko King),
Sight Winner, Dream Eater (Night Shift), Chater Way (Oasis Dream [GB]), Good Ba
Ba, Fellowship (O’Reilly), Beethoven (Ire) (Oratorio [Ire]) and Paco Boy.

“That wasn’t him,” jockey Ryan Moore said of the lackluster Paco Boy.

Gerald Mosse salutes the crowd
(Hong Kong Jockey Club)

Olivier Doleuze, the rider of Good Ba Ba, paid tribute to the eight-year-old
who couldn’t manage an unprecedented fourth Mile crown.

“Like every great fighter, his time has come. He’s the best I ever rode,”
Doleuze summed up.

Beauty Flash boosted his bankroll to HK$20,449,290 from his 19-8-1-3 line.
Bred by Windsor Park Stud Ltd. in New Zealand, he broke his maiden third time
out in his homeland. Beauty Flash was then purchased privately and exported to
Hong Kong, where he won six of his first seven starts, capped by his
aforementioned triumph in the Classic Mile. He had found life tougher in his
subsequent attempts in group company, but still placed in such contests as the
Hong Kong Derby (HK-G1), Hong Kong Derby Trial (HK-G2) and the Champions Mile.
Since the resumption of the Hong Kong season this fall, he had yet to crack the
top three, but was coming off an encouraging fourth in the November 21 Jockey
Club Mile (HK-G2).

“I’d like to take this horse overseas to race,” said Cruz, who kept faith in
Beauty Flash despite his 11th in the Yasuda Kinen (Jpn-G1) in June. “Take him to
Dubai, Japan. Some of the biggest mile races in the world.”

Beauty Flash is out of Wychwood Rose (Volksraad), and his second dam, the New
Zealand stakes-placed Wychwood Lass (Clay Hero), is a full sister to Australian
stakes winner and Group 1-placed Czar Hero. This is also the immediate family of
New Zealand champion two-year-old Maroofity (Maroof).