HK’s own Dominant halts foreign dominance of Vase

Dominant benefited from a superb Zac Purton ride to upset The Fugue (partially obscured far side in pink silks) (Hong Kong Jockey Club)

Fifteen years after the legendary Indigenous struck the lone blow for the
locals in the 1998 Hong Kong Vase, Dominant surprised a fearsome field of
Europeans — and his own trainer John Moore — with a last-to-first conquest at
Sha Tin on Sunday. Leading Hong Kong rider Zac Purton negated the disadvantage
of being drawn widest of all, and capitalized on the luckless run of favored The
Fugue, to defend the home turf successfully for only the second time in the
race’s history.

“It’s a big surprise, I can tell you,” Moore said. “When we drew gate 14, my
jaw dropped out and I thought we had no chance at all. He was given a fantastic
ride by Zac. He was allowed to find his feet and he got to the line even better
than I thought he would because I thought he might be just lacking mileage in
his legs to do what he did today.

“I was wrong, I erred. Zac Purton, the great rider — we are up here with a
race we didn’t expect to win.”

Purton dropped Dominant back to the rear of the 12-horse field in the early
going. Up front, Germany’s Nymphea doled out fractions of :25 4/5, :50, 1:15 and
1:40 on the good-to-firm turf. Liberator, the only other Hong Kong runner,
ranged up to track in second. Great Britain’s Mount Athos and the Irish invader
Simenon were forwardly placed, and Asuka Kurichan of Japan was also prominent.

Dominant also defeated the past two Vase winners, Dunaden (left) and Red Cadeaux (Tomoya Moriuchi/Horsephotos.com)

After Dominant punched clear, The Fugue belatedly arrived on the scene, and
hoped to deny him in the final strides, just as Magician had cut her down late
in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. But The Fugue could only cut the margin to
three-quarters of a length, suffering another troubled loss that has become
emblematic of her career.

Dominant negotiated about 1 1/2 miles in 2:27 1/5 to earn his first Group 1
title, his only prior stakes scores coming in the past two runnings of the Queen
Mother Memorial Cup at this course and distance.

“It was probably the one I didn’t really expect but we’ll take any of them,”
Purton said. “It worked out well for me because it was a nice even tempo for him
and that’s what he appreciated.

“When they steadied up down by the 1,200 meters and they all started to bunch
up, I could see a couple of the favored runners just going to be held up in a
little bit of trouble, so I was able to move into the race with nice galloping
room around the outside.

Trainer John Moore was mightily surprised to lead Dominant to the winner’s celebration (Hong Kong Jockey Club)

Dominant’s resume now reads 20-5-2-4. The black son of Cacique began his
career with Michael Jarvis in England, winning his debut as a juvenile at
Goodwood and finishing eighth of 27 in a lucrative sales race, the 2010
Tattersalls Millions Two-Year-Old Trophy. For Jarvis’ successor, Roger Varian,
Dominant was a progressive sophomore. After a couple of losses in handicaps, the
Highclere colorbearer bolted up by five lengths in the 2011 Tattersalls Millions
Three-Year-Old Cup at Newmarket. That propelled Dominant into his first stakes
test in the York Stakes, where he checked in a solid third to the older Group 1
veteran Twice Over.

Sold to Moore’s syndicate as a Hong Kong Derby prospect, Dominant did not
achieve that objective. He was third in the 2012 Hong Kong Classic Cup prior to
an eighth in the local Derby. Finally scoring his first win for new connections
in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup, beating Liberator, Dominant was then third to
Liberator and Ambitious Dragon in Hong Kong’s marquee race of the spring at this
trip, the Champions & Chater Cup. He was aimed at the 2012 Vase, only to
encounter a setback after a fine second in the Ladies’ Purse.

Dominant resurfaced from a six-month layoff in the April 7 Chairman’s Trophy
over a metric mile, and trailed home 10th in his low-key warm-up. Back up to his
preferred distance in the May 5 Queen Mother Memorial Cup, he successfully
defended his title in a photo-finish. He could do no better than third to
California Memory in the May 26 renewal of the Champions & Chater.

The five-year-old showed little in his first two starts of the current Hong
Kong season, reporting home last of 12 in the October 27 Sha Tin Trophy at the
metric mile and eighth in the November 17 Jockey Club Cup at about 1 1/4 miles.
But he saved his best for Sunday, at last fulfilling his early promise and
etching his name alongside Indigenous.