Attempting to consolidate a strong start to the season, Tony Cruz hopes California Spangle can enhance G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) ambitions with success in the G2 Oriental Watch Trophy Handicap (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (16 October).<\/p>
Bidding for an eighth win from 12 starts with the mercurial Starspangledbanner gelding, Cruz believes last season\u2019s Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) victor can dominate this weekend\u2019s contest from barrier rise with his high cruising speed under reigning champion jockey Zac Purton.<\/p>
\u201cI\u2019m very happy with California Spangle, he\u2019s won his race (G3 Celebration Cup Handicap, 1400m) first-up and he\u2019s pulled up clean. He\u2019s spot on coming into this race,\u201d said Cruz, who has nine wins so far this campaign.<\/p>
\u201cFrom his previous race, Zac got off and said he\u2019s a much better horse this season, he\u2019s more patient and he\u2019s much more settled. He\u2019s always been racing in front all of his career and we\u2019ll stick to that way of riding him. He\u2019s got too much speed not to use it. So, he\u2019ll got straight to the front.<\/p>
\u201cI think he\u2019s still got improvement yet.\u201d<\/p>
Depending on his progress after Sunday\u2019s race, Cruz is planning to tackle the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile on 11 December with the four-year-old.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6423″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Cruz, who last won the Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy with California Memory in 2011, is also represented by Beauty Joy and Ka Ying Star in a contest featuring last\u2019s season winner Panfield and two other G1 winners \u2013 Waikuku and Russian Emperor.<\/p>
\u201cBeauty Joy is ready for this race. Luke Currie is riding him for the first time and he\u2019s not an easy horse to ride. He\u2019s got to have the horse settled and the pace has to be really on for him \u2013 he\u2019s got to have everything going his way. I believe he will be motoring on,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s definitely got the ability and I think he needs a mile now. I think he can run 2000m. California Spangle going to the front, the pace will be sure to be on and they\u2019ll definitely be running a smart time. Luke\u2019s got to cover him up and he\u2019ll be motoring home \u2013 I\u2019m sure it will be a close finish.\u201d<\/p>
Ka Ying Star, who will be partnered by Luke Ferraris, finished fifth in this race last year behind Panfield after leading and Cruz is optimistic the seven-year-old can perform well.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6422″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Lucky With You is potentially on trial for higher targets for David Hayes when the sprinter runs in the Class 2 Franck Muller Excellent Handicap (1200m) under Purton.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019d have to be very impressive on Sunday \u2013 it\u2019s a big step – but if he won, we might have a crack at the (G2 BOCHK Private Banking) Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) on 20 November to see where he\u2019s at,\u201d said Hayes, who is second in the trainers\u2019 championship behind Cruz.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s probably improved. The first win was full merit because he raced without cover on the outside rail and he\u2019s a horse that probably finds three or four lengths if he\u2019s got a horse to follow. From barrier seven, it won\u2019t be easy for Zac but if he gets a little bit of cover, he\u2019ll be very competitive.\u201d<\/p>
Purton also reunites with last-start winner Tuchel in the Class 3 IWC Schaffhausen Excellent Handicap (1400m), hopeful John Size\u2019s gelding can continue to progress towards the Four-Year-Old Classic Series next year.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s certainly progressive and he hasn\u2019t reached his ceiling yet, so he\u2019ll get his chance. John will take him slow and steady and he\u2019ll get his chance,\u201d Purton said.<\/p>
\u201cI think it did a really good job (last start) and especially for one of John\u2019s, first time out. He travelled nicely in the race and when the gap presented itself, he let down nicely and it was a good effort.<\/p>
\u201cHe should be able to carry the weight (133lb) and the handicap shouldn\u2019t slow him down yet. He feels like he\u2019s got more points in hand. He\u2019s a big horse, so he should have improved from that run. It\u2019s not an easy race, but he\u2019ll get his chance again.\u201d<\/p>
Sunday\u2019s (16 October) 10-race card at Sha Tin starts with the Class 4 Corum Excellent Handicap (1200m) at 1pm.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6421″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Attempting to consolidate a strong start to the season, Tony Cruz hopes California Spangle can enhance G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) ambitions with success in the G2 Oriental Watch Trophy Handicap (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (16 October).Bidding for an eighth win from 12 starts with the mercurial Starspangledbanner… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":6420,"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\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6417"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6417"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6429,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6417\/revisions\/6429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}