Bundle Award claims Group 3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup Handicap
Progressive four-year-old Bundle Award (Shamus Award) might have earned a start at Group 1 level after displaying impressive staying talent with victory in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup Handicap (Gr 3, 2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday for trainer John Size and jockey Zac Purton.
Triumphant at 1400 metres and 1800 metres at Sha Tin this year, Bundle Award handled the rise to 2400 metres with aplomb to defeat Noisy Boy (Real Steel) by a short-head in 2m 29.72s after a stirring battle, with Winning Dragon (Ivan Denisovich) third, three-quarters of a length away.
While the winning margin was slender, there was a sense of inevitability about the outcome when Bundle Award fanned to the outside of the six-horse field at the home turn, accelerating from the tail of the field to power to the line in 21.67s over the final 400 metres as Noisy Boy resisted bravely for Jerry Chau and Winning Dragon refused to yield under Alexis Badel.
Bundle Award’s performance leaves master trainer Size with the potential option of starting the gelding – the winner of three races in Australia when he raced as Prince Prawn for Allan & Jason Williams before being exported to Hong Kong – in the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) on May 31 at Sha Tin.
“We’ll see how he is. He’s not rated up to that [Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup] at the moment, but let’s have a look and see what’s available for him,” Size said of the 86-rater. “He’s been really good for us and he’s performed admirably today. It was a big job for him to do that to go to another distance and still win.
“It was hard to predict how they would run the race, but it probably was always going to be a slow-run affair but, a long way from home, he looked like he might be able to win the race. It was just a matter of whether he was in the frame of mind to go on with it.
“He’s physically fine, I think he’s just got to learn a little bit more about racing and a little bit more about how to win a race.”
Size last won the Queen Mother Memorial Cup with Dr Well (Danehill) in 2006, while Purton added to his wins in the race on Dominant (Cacique) (2013) and Exultant (Teofilo) (2018) after his left foot was dislodged today from the stirrup when the gates opened.
“He came out sideways and banged the gate and it’s my sore foot, too, so it’s in a bit of pain,” Purton said. “They went really slow, which was always going to play into my hands because he’s got the best turn of foot of any horse in the race.
“It became a sprint home. He had it won a fair way out but he just didn’t know how to put them away. He’s learning, he did a good job.”
Bundle Award, who finished seventh in the Hong Kong Derby (2000m) to Cap Ferrat (Snitzel) on March 23, is the first horse out of this season’s Classic to win a Group race.
Tony Cruz swept to another towering milestone with a double at Sha Tin, taking his combined career haul as a trainer and jockey in Hong Kong to 2,500 wins.
The six-time champion jockey rode 946 winners and his successes today with Liveandletlive (Muhaarar), who earned a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million (approx. AU$300,950) by winning the Class 3 Chatham Handicap (2000m) under Angus Chung, and Winning Ovation (Cotai Glory), who also snared a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million under Badel in the Class 3 Austin Handicap, took his tally as a trainer to 1,554.
“I’m very happy with that. It’s great,” Cruz, a dual Hong Kong champion trainer, said.
The Chris So-trained Hong Lok Golf (Grunt) continued his striking progress with victory in the Class 2 Hillwood Handicap (1600m) for Harry Bentley to earn a PPG Bonus of HK$1 million (approx. AU$200,630). Posting his fifth win from six starts, the Grunt (O’Reilly) gelding impressed with his tenacity under a strong Bentley ride to defeat the Cody Mo-trained Pray For Mir (Justify).
“Wow. In the straight when I saw Cody’s horse, I thought he would beat us. But I spoke to Harry and he just said that he wasn’t that worried. The last 100 metres, he did it easy,” So said.
So indicated the Lion Rock Trophy (Gr 3, 1600m) on May 31 could be an option for Hong Lok Golf.
David Hayes and Brenton Avdulla combined with Contributer (High Chaparral) three-year-old Fortune Boy to snare the Class 4 Kowloon Cricket Club Centenary Cup Handicap (1600m) after Size’s Crossborderpegasus (Rich Enuff) made it three wins from four starts, triumphing narrowly in the Class 3 Gascoigne Handicap (1200m) for Purton despite racing erratically.
“He’s just a really difficult horse to ride,” Purton said of the Rich Enuff (Written Tycoon) gelding. “He’s got bad habits and it’s very hard to keep him straight and it might be better for him at 1400 metres, too.”
Britney Wong rode her first winner since March with a clever front-running ride on Manfred Man’s Circuit Victory (Per Incanto) in the Class 5 Jordan Handicap (1200m).
“It’s really great and I really appreciate all the support from Manfred. He’s been a big supporter even since I was a trainee,” the ten-pound claiming apprentice said. “It’s a nice feeling to reward him and his team in this way.”
Lucky Symphony (Sioux Nation) delivered on the promise he had displayed in three previous runner-up efforts with victory for Jamie Richards and Andrea Atzeni in the Class 4 Hung Hom Handicap (1200m).
“Andrea gave him a beautiful ride. He won it at the start. Barrier 14 looked a bit tricky but ten-out-of-ten from Andrea,” Richards said.
Quick Money (Land Force) prevailed for Dennis Yip in the Tsim Sha Tsui Plate (1000m) for Griffins under a patient ride by Chau before Matthew Poon slotted his 30th win of the season when the Mo-trained Ka Ying Superb (Belardo) held off Shamus Storm (Shamus Award) to land the second section of the Class 4 Cox’s Handicap (1400m).
David Eustace’s talented Dazzling Fit (Ribchester) made another favourable impression by winning the first section of the Class 4 Cox’s Handicap (1400m) for Luke Ferraris.
Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday.