Twice crowned Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year, the New Zealand-bred gelding was
Trainer Tony Millard guided the brilliant son of Pins to a host of big-race
The bay with the electric burst of speed achieved a peak international rating
|
“In my opinion, he is as good as you get, and why I say that is because he
was so versatile,” Millard said. “I have yet to see a horse, in my time here in
Hong Kong, win Group 1 races at 1,400 meters, 1,600 meters, 1,800 meters and
2,000 meters. I haven’t seen another horse do that in the 16 years I’ve been
here. He also ran second in the 2,400-meter Group 1, and, frankly speaking, in
his younger days, I would have thought he could have maybe won a Group 1 over
1,200 meters. That type of versatility you just don’t get, and that is why a
champion has no distance – that horse is a champion, he can do it – and that, to
me, was Ambitious Dragon.
“He was unique. We just had to look after him carefully because he was very
fragile, like many good horses are. We were very sparing in the way we raced
him. The last time I had one as good as him was more than 20 years ago, in that
same league, with that kind of versatility. It took me 20 years to find another
one, so we really looked after him.
“He was also special because he was a quiet, laid-back horse. He was
basically a gentle giant. I was humbled that he did come my way and that we
managed to develop him, because you don’t often get the chance as a trainer to
be able to do that. It is the ultimate to have a really good horse and train it
the way you would like, and I have got to thank Johnson Lam because he left it
to me; I made the calls and we got the results. We had the team behind us and we
had the right people at the right time — that is what a horse needs, it needs a
good mafoo and a good work rider because they can’t do it on their own, it is a
team effort.
“It is about winning the Group 1s and he won seven. And it is about being
Horse of the Year and then coming back and doing it again to establish why you
are a good horse. Dragon did it and then he came back again, it wasn’t a one-off
season. He proved he was a champion. I hope that one day, if I train long enough
and live long enough, I might get another like him. It won’t be easy because a
horse like him usually comes along just once in a lifetime.”
Seven jockeys rode Ambitious Dragon throughout his career. Maxime Guyon was
on top for his Derby win, Douglas Whyte partnered him to four wins, Zac Purton
was in the plate for his last three successes and his final start; and the likes
of Gerald Mosse, Weichong Marwing and Umberto Rispoli also took the reins.
“He was a gentleman to ride,” Purton said. “The pony would have to drag him
around at the gates, he was so quiet. You would just switch him off, and on his
day, when he was right, nothing in the world at the time could go with him. He
was a phenomenal racehorse and the best miler I’ve ridden. It’s a shame we’re
not going to see him race again but he gave me a great thrill when he won the
Hong Kong Mile and it was a pleasure to be able to ride a horse of that calibre.”
Whyte was up top for Ambitious Dragon’s QEII Cup win as well as his Triple
Crown bid.
“He was one of the best horses I’ve ridden here in Hong Kong,” said the
13-time Hong Kong champion jockey. “Still, to this day, he gave me the most
unbelievable feeling of any horse I’ve ever ridden — his turn of foot was
incredible. He was a champion, he was dour and he was as honest as the day is
long.”
Ambitious Dragon’s career started out somewhat anonymously with an eighth of
12 finish on February 3, 2010. That came in a 1,200-meter Class 4 contest at
Happy Valley. Trained at the time by Francis Lui, the then three-year-old would
end that campaign without a win from four starts but with two runner-up efforts
suggesting that better would follow. No one could have foreseen just how much
better he would become.
“Dragon” moved to the Millard stable after that campaign and the South
African started his new charge in eight races during the 2010/2011 season. The
return was seven wins and a rise to the very pinnacle. Two Class 4 wins were
followed by a now unthinkable reversal in Class 3, but from the turn of the year
Ambitious Dragon was unbeatable. He stormed the four-year-old division with wins
in the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1,800 meters) and Hong Kong Derby and rounded out
his campaign with QEII Cup success, defeating the likes of California Memory
(Highest Honor), Viva Pataca and Gitano Hernando. That seventh win equaled the
record for most wins by a horse in a Hong Kong season.
The 2011/12 season commenced with a stunning win in the National Day Cup.
Shouldering 133 pounds in the handicap, Ambitious Dragon conceded 18 pounds to
the high-class runner-up Destined For Glory and slammed him by 2 1/2 lengths.
That season was most memorable for his outstanding wins in the first two legs of
the Hong Kong Triple Crown, the Stewards’ Cup (1,600 meters) and the Hong Kong
Gold Cup (2,000 meters), and his gallant failure when second in the third leg,
the Champions & Chater Cup (2,400 meters); also his disappointing seventh in the
Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1) (1,800 meters), his one overseas venture, for which he
started as race favorite but appeared to be disturbed by the pre-race hoopla at
Meydan.
Another sensational handicap win under top weight of 133 pounds kicked off
the 2012/2013 campaign as Ambitious Dragon swept aside Glorious Days (Hussonet)
(129 pounds) in the Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy over a mile. The second
reversed the placings next start, but the champion was back on top when it
mattered, in the Hong Kong Mile that December, a triumph that made up for his
defeat in the previous year’s Hong Kong Cup (HK-G1) (2,000 meters) and which was
all the more brilliant for the fact that he had been lame the previous day. His
final career win came three months later in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup.
Defeated in the QEII Cup on his last outing of 2012/2013, Ambitious Dragon
subsequently suffered a tendon injury when preparing for his 2013/2014 debut. A
long spell at the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Beas River complex resulted in a good
recovery. Yet although still capable of a high level of form, “Dragon “was
unable to recapture the brilliance of his prime. His eagerly-awaited first race
for 18 months came in the Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy this past October. He
thrilled his many fans with a running-on third on that occasion, beaten only
three quarters of a length. He was unable to better that in three subsequent
starts.
Ambitious Dragon’s last race was a solid fifth behind Able Friend in the
Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup on 15 March. Although the old warrior ran home
strongly — his final section of 22.45s was bettered only by the winner — the
once-devastating turbo boost was no longer engaging. Ambitious Dragon’s
exceptional ability to quicken with such brilliance at the end of a race is the
awe-inspiring image that will live long in the memories of those who watched him
raise the roof at Sha Tin.
A retirement ceremony will be held for Ambitious Dragon at Sha Tin QEII Cup
Day, Sunday, April 26.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com