Military Attack, Aerovelocity ready for HKIR with Sha Tin
scores
Sha Tin Racecourse staged a pair of lucrative and top-class
contests on Sunday, both of which are likely to have a strong
bearing on the Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) at the Hong Kong venue on December
14.
The HKIR, known as the Turf World Championships,
is the traditional end-of-year international Group 1 extravaganza, with four
top-flight contests — the HK$25million Hong Kong Cup (10
furlongs), HK$23 million Hong Kong Mile, HK$18.5 million Hong Kong
Sprint (six furlongs) and HK$16.5 million Hong Kong Vase (12 furlongs).
Sunday’s main feature, the Oriental Watch Sha Tin
Trophy Handicap, is an important stepping-stone to the HKIR for
horses aiming at races over a mile and beyond. The one-mile handicap was billed as a
clash of the champions and it was British import Military Attack who
landed the triumphant blow to emerge victorious as the Hong Kong Horse
of the Year flashed home late in a thriller against top-class opponents.
The Oratorio six-year-old, making his first start for trainer Caspar
Fownes following a summer switch from the John Moore stable, was carrying
133 pounds and mugged fellow high-weight and Gold-Fun close
home to score by a short head in a time of 1:34 1/5. Two-time Horse of the Year
Ambitious Dragon, returning from an 18-month injury-induced absence,
ran a huge race to claim third, a farther three quarters of a length back.
“It’s good to see the horse perform like that first-up over
a mile against some of the best horses in Hong Kong,” said Fownes, who plans to
send his new charge to the Group 2 Jockey Club Cup going 10 furlongs on November
23 before taking on all-comers in the world’s second richest 1 1/4-mile turf
race, the Hong Kong Cup, on December 14.
Military Attack was notching his first victory at a mile
since May 2012. His major victories have been achieved going around 1 1/4 miles,
most notably in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup and Singapore Airlines International Cup,
both Group 1s in 2013.
“It’s a surprise to beat Gold-Fun at that distance, but he had a decent
preparation,” Fownes said. “I gave Military Attack a really nice
prep — I trained him just nice for the race — I expected him to run fourth or
fifth and then I’d have walked away extremely happy. To come out and do that is
great. And there is improvement, for sure.”
Blazing Speed, the winner of two legs of last season’s Hong
Kong Triple Crown, kicked for home at the top of stretch with the Richard
Gibson-trained Gold-Fun, attempting back-to-back wins in the race, following in
hot pursuit under Douglas Whyte. The 13-time Hong Kong champion jockey drove his
mount to a hard-fought lead 100 meters out and must have thought the race was in the
bag, only for Military Attack to flash down Gold-Fun’s inner with the post fast
approaching.
“Military Attack’s going to step up to 2,000 meters next run on
November 23,” Fownes remarked. “Barring any problems, we’ll look forward to
bringing him back in four weeks’ time and we’ll get a real gauge on where we are
with John’s (Moore) good horses. It’s going to be a great distance for Designs
On Rome, too, that’s where he comes into his own, but I’m very happy with that
and now we just go forward and try to have him ready for the big race in
December.”
Reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Designs On Rome, a fine third when going
1400 meters in
his October 5 seasonal return, was never a factor as he came home
eighth under Joao Moreira.
It was a different story for another old champ, however, as
Ambitious Dragon, Horse of the Year in 2010/2011 and 2011/2012, delighted his
trainer, Tony Millard, as well as his legion of fans.
“Gerald (Mosse) gave him a lovely, balanced race and he’s
come home strong at the end — another 50 meters and he might have got there,”
said Millard, after the eight-year-old, winner of the 2012 Hong Kong
Mile, had traveled wide in the run and rolled home with zest. “I couldn’t have asked for better than that. He certainly
said to the youngsters, ‘I’m back!'”
Potential candidates for the Hong Kong Sprint and
Mile locked horns in an exciting renewal of the Premier
Bowl Handicap one race earlier at Sha Tin.
Aerovelocity showed his trademark tenacity as he overcame a
sloppy start and a top-class field of rivals to win under in-form Hong Kong
champion jockey Zac Purton, who ended the day with a five-timer all told.
Paul O’Sullivan’s charge has risen through the grades in Hong Kong to put
himself in the running for a spot in the world’s most lucrative all-age
six-furlong race, the Hong Kong Sprint, after seeing off the likes of Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen
winner Sterling City and the hugely-talented Able Friend. The last-named is
being aimed at the world’s richest turf mile contest, the Hong Kong Mile during at
December’s HKIR.
“He’s proved he’s worthy to take his place in the
international trial race next month and we’ll take it from there,” O’Sullivan
said of the New Zealand-bred Pins gelding, who has won of six of his last seven
starts and will step out next in the Group 2 Jockey Club
Sprint on November 23. “We can relax on our laurels for four weeks before we
have to come back. It would be nice to win one of those international races in
December, but we’ll have to see how he goes next time.”
Aerovelocity, carrying 122 pounds, uncharacteristically missed
the break and was left to race back in the field as the 11 runners set out with
about six furlongs of Sha Tin’s turf ahead of them.
“It was unusual,” Purton mused. “He was standing in the gates
really well but he just curled himself up and went into a coil, so when the
gates opened he just went up. I was lucky to stay on him.”
Purton settled his mount in the last trio as the Tony
Millard-trained Super Jockey took them along, with the leader easing the tempo
on the top turn before kicking for home in the straight. At that stage, with
400 meters to race, the contest looked to be Able Friend’s for the taking as the John
Moore-trained chestnut was traveling powerfully under Nash Rawiller.
But top-weight of 133 pounds and a lack of race fitness after a
slight recent setback anchored Able Friend, as last season’s Hong Kong
Classic Mile victor flattened out in the closing stages.
Not so Aerovelocity.
The six-year-old, who had shown his wellbeing in a couple of barrier trials
ahead of his first start of the campaign, enjoyed a trouble-free run down the
inside rail to overhaul the game Super Jockey close home.
“The B+2 (turf) track at Sha Tin generally favors horses
back on the inside and, after I missed it, I thought I’d just ride for luck and
hopefully I’d get it, and I did. They all moved off nicely for me!” Purton
grinned.
The winning margin was a short head, with the Francis Lui-trained Smart Volatility running on to finish a
neck farther back in third
and Able Friend another half-length away in fourth. The winning time was a shade
inside standard at 1:08.
“That was a good effort because they seemed to go pretty
steady going across the top there, and the way this track’s riding today it’s a
good effort to come from that far back,” O’Sullivan said. “He had a pretty tough
run today but he has a lot of those and he just bounces through them — that
doesn’t worry him. I think he wins his races a lot on his tenacity; he’s a
pretty brave horse.
“That showed that Zac’s a gun jock, he showed the good
sense, once he’d missed the start, not to rush the horse — Plan B. It gives us
another dimension for upcoming races. He doesn’t have to be on-speed charging
forward, and if we draw a wide gate now we can possibly ride for luck — ride for
a bit of patience. He’s always been a very tractable horse, he never pulls in
his races and he does everything right.
“I bought him as a yearling and then he qualified to come
to Hong Kong and I couldn’t sell him,” O’Sullivan added. “There’ll be 25 guys
sitting up there in the grandstand now that I tried to sell to. These owners
came out of the blue.”
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