Tony Cruz prepares for Champions & Chater Cup tilt with Happy Valley success
Bidding for a remarkable eighth win in the Champions & Chater Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday, Tony Cruz laid down a timely marker for this weekend’s feature with Superb Capitalist’s (Capitalist) victory at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.
Ridden confidently by Matthew Chadwick, Superb Capitalist slotted his fourth course and distance victory with success in the Class 2 Wiltshire Handicap (1200m) to provide Cruz with his 45th win of the season and momentum for the final Group 1 of the Hong Kong season.
Preparing to saddle La City Blanche (Cityscape) and Five G Patch (Camelot) in the Champions & Chater Cup, Cruz said of Superb Capitalist: “This horse is very consistent and he likes this track. I’m going to bring him back here again for another race.”
With five wins from 16 starts, the Capitalist (Written Tycoon) four-year-old earned a PPG Bonus of HK$1 million (approx. AU$192,950) as well as HK$1.59 million (approx. AU$306,790) in prize-money.
Dennis Yip, who will start Massive Sovereign (No Nay Never) in the staying feature at the weekend, also figured prominently on Wednesday with Lean Master’s (Havana Grey) victory.
Searching for his first Group 1, Yip has already forged new territory this season with Massive Sovereign’s stunning Hong Kong Derby (Listed, 2000m) triumph on March 24 and he was delighted with Lean Master’s effort to lead throughout under Harry Bentley to win the first section of the Class 4 Hereford Handicap (1200m), the gelding’s first course and distance victory of the campaign.
“The horse is in very good form and everything was good for him tonight. He’s a front runner and it was difficult to catch up from behind,” Yip said of the bay, who sped straight to the front from barrier one.
“He had the speed, good form and he keeps improving. He’s from Europe and he’s only a four-year-old so I think he can keep improving and go up to Class 3.”
Midori Glory (Shooting To Win) made a successful debut for Ricky Yiu, clinching the Class 3 Renfrew Handicap (1000m) for Matthew Poon. The Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor) three-year-old won twice in Australia – at Goulburn and Taree – for Greg Hickman before being exported to Hong Kong and collected a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million (approx. AU$289,430) with Wednesday’s triumph as well as HK$1.04 million (approx. AU$200,670) in prize-money.
“The draw helped him first time here, but I didn’t worry about the sharp turns because in the morning he can cope with everything,” Yiu said. “He’s acclimatised really well and Shooting To Win is a good sire for Hong Kong. The owner bought him as a yearling.
“Eventually he will step up to 1200 metres, but I think 1000 metres is good at the moment. Whether it’s here or Sha Tin it doesn’t matter.”
Cody Mo notched his 15th win of the campaign with Romantic Laos’ (Pins) tenacious performance to land the Class 3 Selkirk Handicap (1650m) for Derek Leung after Arthur’s Kingdom (Camelot) struck at his 26th start in Hong Kong to claim the Chester Handicap (2200m) for Me Tsui under Karis Teetan.
Now a seven-year-old, the Camelot (Montjeu) gelding was runner-up as a two-year-old in the 2019 Criterium de Saint-Cloud (Gr 1, 2000m) when trained by Aidan O’Brien. Until tonight, the gelding had finished in the top-three only once in Hong Kong.
Teetan made it a double with Forever Glorious’ (Archipenko) tough win in the Class 4 St George’s Challenge Cup Handicap (1650m) as Francis Lui moved to 57 wins for the term, only two shy of Pierre Ng (59) with 14 meetings left in the season.
Michael Chang took his season tally of wins to 14 with three-year-old New Power’s (Swiss Ace) success under Keith Yeung in third section of the Class 4 Hereford Handicap (1200m) before Danny Shum-trained Satirical Fan (So You Think) controlled the tempo from the outset and fought courageously to land the Class 4 Lancashire Handicap (1650m) to provide Ellis Wong his 20th victory of the season.
Shum completed a brace when The Perfect Match (Complacent) snatched a short-head victory over Telecom Speed (Street Boss) in the second section of the Class 4 Hereford Handicap (1200m) under Hugh Bowman.
“He had natural pace which is a good help here and he’s only lightly-raced so there’s certainly plenty of upside to him,” Bowman said of the Complacent (Authorized) three-year-old. “He showed plenty of courage.”
Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin on Sunday with the running of the HK$13 million (approx. AU$2.5 million) Champions & Chater Cup.