Jamie Kah savoured sweet victory at Sha Tin this afternoon (Sunday, 29 January) aboard Voyage Bubble in the HK$12 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) for trainer Ricky Yiu.<\/p>
Rated beautifully in the lead by Kah, the 26-year-old found the front and that was where she remained aboard the Deep Field gelding \u2013 extending over the closing stages to prevail in the first leg of Hong Kong\u2019s three-race Four-Year-Old Classic Series ahead of Tuchel and Packing Treadmill, clocking a winning time of 1m 34.58s.<\/p>
\u201cI\u2019m pretty speechless, it\u2019s been a very special day. I\u2019ve had such a great experience here with some beautiful horses I have ridden. I was speechless after and I got goosebumps \u2013 it\u2019s hard to make me speechless, it was a very exciting day,\u201d Kah said.<\/p>
Challenged late by Tuchel and Luke Currie over the concluding stages, Voyage Bubble dug deep under the Australian\u2019s urgings to post an official margin of one and a quarter lengths.<\/p>
\u201cHe was mapped to get a really nice, sweet run in the race and I was confident. I was just worried about him late as he has the tendency to lay in and I just thought something\u2019s going to swoop him late but he just built and built, he got stronger and stronger and probably at the 200 (metre mark) I thought we were never in doubt \u2013 it was a really impressive win going forward,\u201d Kah said.<\/p>
The triumph was Voyage Bubble\u2019s second over a mile in as many starts and Kah is buoyant of his ability to continue raising the bar across the remaining two legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Voyage Bubble wins the 2023 Hong Kong Classic Mile.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
\u201cI was a bit concerned, he actually sat back in the gates and missed the start. I definitely didn\u2019t want to get in behind them and I had to use him a little bit but then he comes back to you and that\u2019s why I think he\u2019ll get further.<\/p>
\u201cBecause in front I could have gone a lot slower than that, I think he is still a free-rolling horse but over further I think he\u2019s going to have that tactical change-up speed and I think that\u2019s going to win him races over a trip if I can bring him back and get him to settle \u2013 he\u2019s very easy to ride,\u201d Kah said.<\/p>
Yiu will set Voyage Bubble for next month\u2019s HK$12 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) \u2013 the second leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series \u2013 with Kah engaged to ride once more on 26 February. The third and final leg is the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 19 March.<\/p>
\u201cFor the time being, I think the mile would be his best trip. It\u2019ll (Hong Kong Classic Cup) be a bigger task for him but we will go for it, I think he keeps improving. We have to take a chance, mile or 1800 (metres), he has a lot of improvement in him and I have a lot of faith in this horse,\u201d Yiu said.<\/p>
Today\u2019s victory was Voyage Bubble\u2019s fourth of his career and enhances his earnings to HK$10.61 million. He also collected a further HK$1 million bonus for the Sunshine And Moonlight Syndicate.<\/p>
\u201cI was a bit unsure before today but after today I think if he can get the run nice and cheaply in front like he did then further is not going to worry him, he was only getting stronger on the line and he has a few little quirks to iron out too, so with a bit more racing and maturity he\u2019ll turn into a better horse,\u201d Kah said. \u201cHe\u2019s a very easy horse to ride and that\u2019s what wins races in the end.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6936″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
The win capped a double on the programme for Kah, who earlier scored atop Royal Bomb in the Class 3 Able Friend Handicap (1650m, dirt) for trainer Caspar Fownes.<\/p>
\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful racecourse (Sha Tin), I\u2019ve only ridden at Happy Valley and it\u2019s a very similar track to Flemington here, it feels like riding at home \u2013 it’s a beautiful surface, a really big track and it gives every horse their opportunity and I\u2019ve had a great day of racing here today.<\/p>
\u201cI might be racking up some frequent flyer points soon, I\u2019m very happy with today and I\u2019ll be back for sure, especially for the bigger races, I\u2019ll make time to come back because I\u2019ve had such a great day here and everyone has been so welcoming,\u201d Kah said.<\/p>
Fownes was all praise for Kah after her win aboard Royal Bomb this afternoon.<\/p>
\u201cIt was a beautiful ride \u2013 she\u2019s a great jockey and I hope we can get her here,\u201d Fownes said.<\/p>
\u201cWe need someone like her. I\u2019ve been watching her career for a long time and she\u2019s gifted. Hong Kong could benefit from having her here, riding at 115 pounds. Horses run for her, it\u2019s wonderful to see how well she\u2019s done and hopefully she can have Hong Kong on the radar for a stint in the near future.\u201d<\/p>
James McDonald scored at his first ride this afternoon aboard Happy For All for trainer Jamie Richards in the Class 4 Glorious Days Handicap (1200m).<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s nice, he\u2019s progressive but he\u2019s still pretty green and raw still \u2013 he got to the front and just floated, so he\u2019ll improve,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6935″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Manfred Man celebrated a remarkable feat by training his 600th win in Hong Kong as Run Run Good dug deep under Karis Teetan to claim the Class 5 Giant Treasure Handicap (1650m, dirt).<\/p>
John Size combined twice with fly-in jockey Ryan Moore, winning the Class 4 Seasons Bloom Handicap (1000m) aboard Juneau Flash before the Brit fought bravely aboard Unpresuming to land the Class 4 Helene Paragon Handicap (1400m).<\/p>
Size\u2019s fruitful afternoon kicked off with Toronado Phantom\u2019s surprise 37\/1 win in the Class 2 Heung Yee Kuk Cup Handicap (1200m) under Vagner Borges. Size leads the trainers\u2019 championship by one win over Frankie Lor (32-31).<\/p>
Hugh Bowman sealed a double for Yiu with victory aboard Super Dynamite in the Class 3 Ambitious Dragon Handicap (1400m), while Angus Chung\u2019s 10lb claim proved decisive on Skyey Supreme in the Class 4 Blazing Speed Handicap (1650m, dirt) for Francis Lui.\u00a0<\/p>
Hong Kong racing continues this Wednesday (1 February) at Happy Valley.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6934″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Jamie Kah savoured sweet victory at Sha Tin this afternoon (Sunday, 29 January) aboard Voyage Bubble in the HK$12 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) for trainer Ricky Yiu.Rated beautifully in the lead by Kah, the 26-year-old found the front and that was where she remained aboard the Deep Field gelding… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":6937,"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\/6932"}],"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\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6932"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6956,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6932\/revisions\/6956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}