Tony Cruz believes California Spangle is capable of beating Golden Sixty in the HK$20 million G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) on 30 April after a dogged G2 Chairman\u2019s Trophy (1600m) triumph at Sha Tin on Sunday (9 April).<\/p>
Registering his first win since a famous defeat of Golden Sixty in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) on 11 December, California Spangle (128lb) was pushed to a half-length margin by Money Catcher (123lb) after Zac Purton was unable to adopt his customary leading role.<\/p>
Despite the gritty nature of the win, Cruz is adamant California Spangle will reprise his pace-setting role next start \u2013 and retains the capacity to topple Golden Sixty.<\/p>
\u201cWe still won the race today\u00a0and I\u2019m very happy about that, but next time he runs we\u2019ll definitely go to the front,\u201d Cruz said after California Spangle stalked Healthy Happy before edging to the front in the straight and staving off Money Catcher and Beauty Joy late.<\/p>
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t his kind of race today, the time (1m 34.17s) was slow, too. I reckon next we\u2019re definitely not going to run this way again. We\u2019re not going to make the same mistake again \u2013 he should have led the race. He\u2019s so used to going to the front, you can\u2019t stop him. But today he still wins.\u201d<\/p>
With 10 wins and seven minor placings from 17 starts, California Spangle looms as one of Golden Sixty\u2019s main obstacles in the G1 FWD Champions Mile and Cruz is hopeful of upsetting Hong Kong\u2019s highest-rated horse again.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s (California Spangle) in top shape now and I reckon he\u2019ll be ready for the 30th (of April). I\u2019m very confident about my horse and I believe we still have a good chance (of beating Golden Sixty).\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
California Spangle digs deep.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Five-time Hong Kong champion Purton counted California Spangle among four winners on the card \u2013 including Lucky Sweynesse, Red Lion and Red Elegance \u2013 but said he was surprised by California Spangle\u2019s apparent struggle with Money Catcher and Beauty Joy.<\/p>
\u201cProbably the first time he\u2019s been on the canvas and got himself up off it and got the job done, so hopefully he takes confidence out of that,\u201d Purton said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I would be in that position \u2013 I thought he would win comfortably. He\u2019s won, his confidence will be there that he can do it again.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”18657″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Hugh Bowman marked his return from Australia with a quartet for four different trainers \u2013 El Valiente for Caspar Fownes, Amazing Teens for John Size, We Are Hero for Manfred Man and Happy Golf for Frankie Lor \u2013 and his first four-timer in Hong Kong.<\/p>
\u201cAll my horses today all looked to have great chances \u2013 some were short-priced favourites \u2013 and they\u2019ve delivered. I\u2019m delighted, I\u2019m enjoying my time and I\u2019m loving the racing, hence the agreement to extend and it\u2019s great to be back here after a week off, tidying up some loose ends back in Australia and hopefully the momentum can continue,\u201d the Australian said.<\/p>
Asked if he would consider extending into the 2023\/24 season after reaching 43 wins this term, Bowman said: \u201cI\u2019m certainly going to consider that if the Club will have me. I\u2019ve got my family to think about but it\u2019s certainly high on my priority.\u201d<\/p>
Bowman\u2019s first strike came aboard El Valiente for Fownes with a comfortable victory in the Class 5 Harlech Handicap (1650m, dirt) before adding to the haul by partnering Size-trained Amazing Teens to success in the Class 4 Lugard Handicap (1800m, dirt) in a triumph which gave 11-time Hong Kong champion trainer Size his 50th win of the season.<\/p>
Luke Ferraris disrupted Bowman\u2019s surge by slotting his fourth winner from the past three meetings by winning the Class 4 Peel Handicap (1600m) on Smiling Collector for Jimmy Ting before Bowman guided Man-trained We Are Hero to an emphatic victory in the Class 3 Hong Kong Lions Cup Handicap (1000m).<\/p>
Bowman\u2019s spree continued with Happy Golf\u2019s triumph in the Class 4 Plantation Handicap (1200m) for Lor after Fownes extended a stunning recent run by claiming the first Griffins race of the season when Kaholo Angel \u2013 a son of Havana Grey \u2013 landed the Barker Plate (1000m) under Vincent Ho.<\/p>
\u201cVery professional horse. He\u2019s still a colt. We were very close to castrating him a few weeks ago, but I decided to hold back on that because he\u2019s got a good brain. He\u2019s a very focused horse, and it\u2019s nice to see him do a job like that first up,\u201d said Fownes before El Valiente gave the stable its sixth win from 10 runners.<\/p>
Purton partnered Red Elegance to victory in the Class 4 Homestead Handicap (1000m) for Jamie Richards before snaring successive Group 2 features with Lucky Sweynesse in the Sprint Cup and California Spangle.<\/p>
Size\u2019s impressive Red Lion gave Purton his third consecutive win with victory in the Class 2 Pollock Handicap (1400m) before Ho closed the card in style with success in the Class 3 Severn Handicap (1400m) atop Taj Dragon for Pierre Ng.<\/p>
A three-time winner as a two-year-old in 2021 when he raced as Taj Alriyadh, the Mehmas gelding had been unplaced in four Hong Kong starts until this afternoon\u2019s powerful performance.<\/p>
Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday (12 April).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”18656″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Tony Cruz believes California Spangle is capable of beating Golden Sixty in the HK$20 million G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) on 30 April after a dogged G2 Chairman\u2019s Trophy (1600m) triumph at Sha Tin on Sunday (9 April).Registering his first win since a famous defeat of Golden Sixty in the G1… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":18659,"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\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18655"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18655"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18662,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18655\/revisions\/18662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}