Ricky Yiu believes Voyage Bubble\u2019s ascendance is far from over as his lightly-raced youngster gears up for the HK$12 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin.<\/p>\r\n
As one of two feature races this Sunday (29 January) along with the HK$12 million G1 Stewards\u2019 Cup (1600m), the Hong Kong Classic Mile kicks off the Four-Year-Old Classic Series and will see 14 high-quality four-year-olds converge including Keefy, Packing Treadmill, Beautyverse, Sweet Encounter, Tuchel and Flagship Warrior to name a few.<\/p>\r\n
Voyage Bubble \u2013 a three-time winner in Hong Kong \u2013 will look to give Yiu a first win in the Hong Kong Classic Mile after the near-misses of Jeune King Prawn in 2002 and Blizzard in 2016 \u2013 both of whom finished third.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cHe matured this season. He\u2019s still lightly raced as a four-year-old and he had a setback a long time ago, but it was only a small issue. He has much more to come, for sure,\u201d Yiu said.<\/p>\r\n
By Deep Field, Voyage Bubble kicked off his Hong Kong career as an unraced prospect at this exact fixture in 2022, beginning on a rating of 52 eight starts ago before reaching a career-high mark of 81. This weekend he\u2019ll be ridden by fly-in jockey Jamie Kah.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a big horse, he can withstand all of the training and races. He\u2019s still young but he pulled up 100 percent, it\u2019s like he didn\u2019t have a race \u2013 he\u2019s loving it, eating well and we have Jamie Kah on,\u201d Yiu said.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Voyage Bubble prevails at Sha Tin.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Returning for her second taste of Hong Kong racing, Kah booted home a winner and two placings at last December\u2019s LONGINES International Jockeys\u2019 Championship fixture at Happy Valley.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cI\u2019m predicting he\u2019ll run well again. Mickael Barzalona got suspended, so I called straight away and it was quick (to book Kah),\u201d Yiu said.<\/p>\r\n
Breaking from gate 10 last start at his first try over a mile, Voyage Bubble successfully crossed the field to hold off rivals by a short head, including the fast-finishing duo of Happy Together and La City Blanche.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cThe moment I bought him, I thought he would love the mile. He has a big long stride, even before he won (last start), I thought he would get the mile,\u201d Yiu said.<\/p>\r\n
The three-race HK$48 million Four-Year-Old Classic Series comprises the HK$12 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 26 February and HK$24 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 19 March.<\/p>\r\n
Yiu has 23 wins this term and HK$31.4 million in earnings. Last Tuesday (24 January) he prevailed in the Class 1 Chinese New Year Cup Handicap (1400m) at Sha Tin with Mr Ascendency.<\/p>\r\n
Cordyceps Six, Galaxy Witness, Sword Point, Viva Chaleur, La City Blanche, Ivy League and Bon\u2019s A Pearla are also engaged in Sunday\u2019s Hong Kong Classic Mile.<\/p>\r\n
Bon\u2019s A Pearla will carry 122lb as a filly while the rest of the field has been assigned 126lb as geldings, while Viva Chaleur \u2013 the only colt to feature \u2013 also carries 126lb.<\/p>\r\n
Two races earlier on Sunday\u2019s fixture sees the running of the Stewards\u2019 Cup, where Romantic Warrior, Golden Sixty and California Spangle square off for supremacy.<\/p>\r\n
The field of seven features six Group 1 winners lining up over the mile at Sha Tin with Waikuku, Russian Emperor, Beauty Joy and Panfield also entered.<\/p>\r\n
Sunday\u2019s (29 January) 10-race fixture at Sha Tin commences at 1pm with the Class 5 Giant Treasure Handicap (1650m, dirt).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6872″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Ricky Yiu believes Voyage Bubble\u2019s ascendance is far from over as his lightly-raced youngster gears up for the HK$12 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin. As one of two feature races this Sunday (29 January) along with the HK$12 million G1 Stewards\u2019 Cup (1600m), the Hong Kong Classic… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":6873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6870"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6870"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6879,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6870\/revisions\/6879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}