Exultant after sealing a memorable feature double with Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) triumph aboard Super Sunny Sing at Sha Tin on Sunday (26 February), Vincent Ho wasted little time in identifying the principal contenders \u2013 and opponents – for the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 19 March after a defining afternoon.<\/p>
After Super Sunny Sing claimed the traditional BMW Hong Kong Derby lead-up in dashing fashion and Caspar Fownes anointed another leading Classic aspirant with Super Arron\u2019s maiden Hong Kong win, Ho declared Beauty Eternal as the horse to beat.<\/p>
Marvelling at Super Sunny Sing\u2019s fourth successive win, Ho lavished praise on the Nicconi gelding just over 70 minutes after partnering 2020 BMW Hong Kong Derby champion Golden Sixty to a stirring win in the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m).<\/p>
Contemplating Super Sunny Sing\u2019s worthiness as a Derby candidate, Ho said: \u201cHe\u2019s getting more mentally mature and he\u2019s relaxing so well, so he can hopefully go to the Derby. I think Mr Size\u2019s horse will be very hard to beat, but let\u2019s see.<\/p>
\u201cI was always confident today and Chris and his team did an extraordinary job to keep the horse well and now, aiming for the Derby, we have to get him recovered. This horse has improved so much \u2013 it\u2019s like he knows how to win and when we stepped up to 1600 metres, there was no problem and he had a great turn of foot. He\u2019s a very smart horse. We have something special here.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Super Sunny Sing wins the Hong Kong Classic Cup.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Savouring Hong Kong Classic Cup redemption after Redkirk Warrior\u2019s head-bobbing second to Thunder Fantasy in 2015, trainer Chris So said: \u201cTo get a horse to win this race makes me very happy and it relieves a lot of pressure now.<\/p>
\u201cToday has proven that he should handle further distance but let\u2019s see how he pulls up \u2013 if he\u2019s sound and happy, we target the Derby. We won\u2019t change too much on the programme and just keep him happy.\u201d<\/p>
Super Sunny Sing, who boasts five wins from nine starts, collected a PPG Bonus of HK$1 million for his latest success.<\/p>
Earlier, John Size\u2019s emerging star Beauty Eternal underlined already compelling BMW Hong Kong Derby claims with a devastating win in the Class 2 Citigold Handicap (1600m) under Zac Purton.<\/p>
Collecting a PPG bonus of HK$1 million for winning at Class 2 before turning five, the 84-rater stalked the pace before cruising over the final 400m \u2013 untested \u2013 in 23.17s to further enhance his reputation with a fourth win from five starts.<\/p>
\u201cIt was good \u2013 it was what I expected, just let him have a nice bit of exercise on the way through. He got into a lovely spot, he did it easy,\u201d Purton said. \u201cHe enjoyed it, he pulled up good.\u201d<\/p>
Asked if he had any concerns about Beauty Eternal stretching to 2000m for the Derby, Purton said: \u201cI think he\u2019ll be fine, especially against his own age. He\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Beauty Eternal cruises to his fourth victory.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Straight Arron also emerged as a BMW Hong Kong Derby contender with a bullocking win in the Class 3 Citi Insurance Services Handicap (1800m), weaving through traffic under Blake Shinn for Caspar Fownes.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s a nice horse, I\u2019ve had him for only three weeks and it\u2019s nice to get a result in a short period of time,\u201d Fownes said. \u201cOf course, he\u2019ll run in the Derby \u2013 it\u2019s 1,000 per cent. He should get eight points for the win and that will get him well into recognition for the Derby and his overseas form tells you he\u2019s a Derby horse.<\/p>
\u201cHe was held up the whole straight today and if he\u2019d got out earlier he would have won by a bigger margin.\u201d<\/p>
A Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) winner in Australia when trained by Chris Waller, Straight Arron also collected a PP Bonus of HK$1 million.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”8110″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Douglas Whyte-trained Tamra Blitz also secured a HK$1 million PP Bonus for his owners with victory in the Class 3 Citi Mortgage Services Handicap (1400m) under a driving ride from Antoine Hamelin.<\/p>
A treble left Purton perched on 99 wins for the 2022\/23 season as the Australian bids to post at least 100 victories in a campaign for the seventh consecutive term.<\/p>
The five-time Hong Kong champion clinched his double after box-seating on Tony Cruz-trained Brave Dreams to clinch the Class 4 Citi Ultima Handicap (1200m) before making sealing a three-timer atop Size\u2019s Unpresuming in the Class 4 Citi Wealth Management Services Handicap (1400m).<\/p>
Ricky Yiu\u2019s Pleasant Endeavor continued a remarkably consistent season with victory in the Class 3 Citi Private Bank Handicap (1000m) for Derek Leung. The Redoute\u2019s Choice gelding has had six starts this preparation for two wins and three placings but, in a highly-competitive sprint, prevailed at 19\/1.<\/p>
Fortune President ended Me Tsui\u2019s 106-start run out of outs a short-head triumph under Keith Yeung in the Class 4 Citi Global Wealth Handicap (1650m, dirt) before 10lb-claiming apprentice Angus Chung combined with reigning champion trainer Frankie Lor to claim the Class 3 Citigold Private Client Handicap (1650m, dirt) aboard True Legend, who posted his third victory at the course and distance.<\/p>
Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (1 March).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”8109″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Exultant after sealing a memorable feature double with Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) triumph aboard Super Sunny Sing at Sha Tin on Sunday (26 February), Vincent Ho wasted little time in identifying the principal contenders \u2013 and opponents – for the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 19 March after a… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":8113,"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\/8106"}],"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=8106"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8119,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8106\/revisions\/8119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}