McDonald and Voyage Bubble salute in Hong Kong Mile
James McDonald had already hit the board before Romantic Warrior’s emphatic Hong Kong Cup success when he steered home the Ricky Yiu-trained Voyage Bubble (Deep Field) to victory in the Hong Kong Mile (Gr 1, 1600m).
Having run second behind the legendary Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro) in the race last year, the six-year-old gelding looked to have nothing of that calibre to tackle this time around and so it proved in the end result.
Breaking well from gate five, Voyage Bubble sat in second position for most of the 1600-metre journey and, having hit the front with 300 metres left to race, kept on strongly to beat Soul Rush (Rulership) by one and a quarter lengths.
There was a further half-length back to Beauty Joy (Sebring) in third place.
Yiu said: “Mentally he is a lot more mature. He’s very smart and he’s developed – he’s gotten taller and a little bit bigger. He has enjoyed Conghua very much.”
Today’s win was the fourth at the Hong Kong International Races for Yiu, who captured the Hong Kong Sprint with Fairy King Prawn (Danehill) (1999) and Sacred Kingdom (Encosta De Lago) (2007 & 2009).
“Out of all of the jockeys who have won on him James knows him the best and the draw [five] helped him. The way the race was run suited him. We have wonderful team and we work together very nicely,” Yiu said.
The Tony Gollan-trained Antino (Redwood) could manage just 11th place of the 14 runners, one spot ahead of the Harry Eustace-trained Docklands (Massaat), with both horses enduring tough trips.