Champion jockey Zac Purton believes the best is yet to come from Cap Ferrat (127lb) as he prepares to ride the Francis Lui-trained galloper for the first time in Sunday\u2019s HK$4.2 million G3 Sa Sa Ladies\u2019 Purse Handicap (1800m) at Sha Tin.<\/p>
Remarkably, the sole victory on the five-year-old\u2019s 21-race record (including 13 in Australia for trainer Chris Waller) is the 2025 BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m), but Purton thinks it\u2019s just a matter of tapping the Snitzel gelding\u2019s potential.<\/p>
\u201cI still don\u2019t think we\u2019ve seen the best of Cap Ferrat yet,\u201d Purton said. \u201cHe\u2019s a horse that, to me, appears as if he hasn\u2019t really committed himself 100 per cent. And if the penny drops one day, I think there\u2019s a little bit more left.\u201d<\/p>
With the HK$130 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) approaching on 14 December, Sunday\u2019s feature looms as a key trial for several contenders.<\/p>
Purton said drawing barrier 13 doesn\u2019t help Cap Ferrat\u2019s chances, but remains confident of a bold run and hopes he\u2019s found a HKIR mount.<\/p>
\u201c(The draw) is not ideal, especially for a horse like him that can overrace; they want to do a little bit too much if they see daylight for too long. But we\u2019ll work it out.<\/p>
\u201cI\u2019m looking for a horse to ride in the Group 1 mile races and hopefully, he\u2019s going to be it,\u201d Purton added.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”7873″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Cap Ferrat isn\u2019t the only BMW Hong Kong Derby champion with LONGINES HKIR ambitions on Sunday. Massive Sovereign (124lb) is another contender who has failed to build on a career-defining win in Hong Kong\u2019s most prestigious contest.<\/p>
David Eustace\u2019s charge has seen his progress hindered by injury and surgery since his 2024 BMW Hong Kong Derby triumph, limiting the five-year-old to just seven outings as he enters his third year in Hong Kong. But the British handler was pleased with Massive Sovereign\u2019s Sa Sa Ladies\u2019 Purse tune-up in October, finishing fourth in the Class 2 Panasonic Cup Handicap (1600m).<\/p>
\u201cWe were delighted with him,\u201d Eustace said. \u201cHe quickened up well. He\u2019s had one run in 12 months, basically. So, he was always going to need it, and he\u2019ll come on for it, I\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>
The versatile No Nay Never gelding will be partnered by Luke Ferraris for the first time on Sunday and steps from gate four.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”7872″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Meanwhile, there\u2019s plenty of intrigue around a Douglas Whyte debutant in Sunday\u2019s Class 2 Santa Monica Handicap (1400m).<\/p>
Shanwah (115lb) arrived in Hong Kong in August on the back of some superb form in Australia, where he was trained by Ciaron Maher. The four-year-old earned over AU$753,000 (approx. HK$3.79 million) during a sensational two-month spell in Victoria, which included wins in the G2 Caulfield Autumn Classic (1800m) and the G2 Alister Clark Stakes (2040m).<\/p>
His quick integration into life in Hong Kong suggests a possible Four-Year-Old Classic Series tilt, but Whyte said the Too Darn Hot gelding is ready to get going.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s a lovely horse. He\u2019s come with some good form around him,\u201d Whyte said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of a rushed preparation, but he\u2019s handled everything correctly. He\u2019s going into his first run as fit as one would want him. I think he\u2019ll improve a lot for the outing.\u201d<\/p>
Sunday\u2019s (9 November) 10-race Sa Sa Ladies\u2019 Purse Day fixture at Sha Tin begins at 1pm with the Class 5 L\u2019Oreal Paris Handicap (1600m).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”7871″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Champion jockey Zac Purton believes the best is yet to come from Cap Ferrat (127lb) as he prepares to ride the Francis Lui-trained galloper for the first time in Sunday\u2019s HK$4.2 million G3 Sa Sa Ladies\u2019 Purse Handicap (1800m) at Sha Tin.Remarkably, the sole victory on the five-year-old\u2019s 21-race record (including… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":7874,"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\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7869"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7869"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7882,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7869\/revisions\/7882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-ladies-purse-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}