Exultant stamps Horse of the Year claim with Champions & Chater Cup victory
It was hard work but Exultant (Teofilo) has never been one to shirk a challenge. The tough kingpin of the Hong Kong stayers’ division proved his preeminence with a gritty second success in the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) at Sha Tin yesterday.
The six-year-old bay dug deep to repel the pressing Chefano (Silvano) and Furore (Pierro) and ensure Tony Cruz a seventh victory in the race as a trainer, all from the last eight renewals.
Cruz rates Exultant the best of a bunch that includes California Memory (Highest Honor), Blazing Speed (Dylan Thomas) and Pakistan Star (Shamardal), at least when it comes to ability over a mile and a half, a distance contested only three times a season in Hong Kong.
“He’s the better stayer of all of them – he has no speed but he has a great attitude,” Cruz said.
Purton, who took a bang to the head in a stalls incident half an hour before the feature, asserted his view that “there’s no doubt he’s the best stayer I’ve ridden in Hong Kong” after driving his mount to a length verdict in a time of 2:26.01.
Exultant’s second Group 1 of the season, hot on the heels of his street-fighting success in last month’s FWD QEII Cup (Gr 1, 2000m), pushed him squarely into the reckoning for Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year title, with star four-year-old Golden Sixty (Medaglia d’Oro) likely to be the sole, albeit significant, stumbling block.
“He can’t really do any more than he’s done, he’s been great all season, as he has been for the past few seasons,” Purton said. “He does deserve it – everyone wants to talk about Golden Sixty but he only did it in the four-year-old series, he didn’t come out and do it against the older horses and I think it’s important that is taken into consideration. That might be the telling factor.”
Exultant was sent off the 1.5 favourite to repeat his win of 12 months ago but it was never going to be a flashy, win-as-you-like, display.
“It’s never easy in small fields when you’re on the favourite,” Purton said. “Everyone goes out there to make your life difficult and they tried to do that again today but fortunately I was on a horse that was able to absorb some pressure and still be able to fight out a finish.”
Stablemate Time Warp (Archipenko) set a solid tempo up front and Purton settled one back, slipstreaming, ready to make a determined drive for home at the most opportune moment.
“He was the best horse – just get him up there, let him travel and let him do his job,” Purton said. “I was surprised Furore kept kicking up on the inside, he had every chance just to drop down and give himself an easy run but he wanted to make my life difficult and in turn made his own life difficult – that in turn made Chefano do a little more work and set my fellow alight as well.
“I thought, once again, I was out on my feet at the 200 (metres) but today it was like he was waiting for them a little more, it’s like he’s become more cunning and I could feel, when they were coming, he started to surge underneath.”
Thanks Forever takes Sha Tin Vase on dramatic day for Purton
Thanks Forever (Duporth) fought his way to a deserved victory in the Sha Tin Vase (Gr 3, 1200m) yesterday to initiate a big-race brace on an afternoon of plenty and pain for Purton.
The champion jockey had his head banged against the starting gate before race seven and then hit the deck when Regency Bo Bo (Denman) stumbled after the start of the 10th contest. He was unruffled.
“The (Hong Kong Jockey) Club was worried, I wasn’t,” he said.
The Australian also collected a four-win bounty to match his great rival Joao Moreira in their battle for the jockeys’ premiership. And, if Exultant’s success in the Champions & Chater Cup was Purton’s satisfying main course, Thanks Forever’s triumph – the gelding’s overdue first in Group company – was the tastiest of hors d’oeuvres.
“He deserved it, he’s been racing well this season,” Purton said after the four-year-old had clocked 1:08.96 in battling past the front-running Hot King Prawn (Denman) and Big Party (Exceed And Excel) by a neck and a short-head.
“It was a race he really had to win from that gate (two) with that weight. The speed early was really slow and then they made it a good sprint home, so he had to chase hard and he did it well.”
Thanks Forever earned his fifth win at his 16th start off the back of high-class efforts this term, notably top-three placings in the Centenary Sprint Cup (Gr 1, 1200m) and last month’s Chairman’s Sprint Prize (Gr 1, 1200m).
“He really has deserved that,” trainer John Moore said. “He’s been a model of consistency without winning one of the black type races.
“Purton got off the fence quickly, he got himself into one out, one back, and he was very aware – even before the race – that he’d have to pay attention to the pace set by Moreira on Hot King Prawn. We knew if we gave him too much start we wouldn’t pick him up.
“He was able to pick him up and he was strong through the line. At the 300 (metres) I wasn’t so sure but when Zac got into him and he got him into gear I thought he was strong.”
Thanks Forever isn’t quite done for the season either: Moore will aim the gelding at next month’s Premier Cup (Gr 3, 1400m).
“We intend to go again in the 1400 (metres) on June 21st – I’ve asked Zac to ride him again,” he said.
Just Like That
Moore was also on the mark with the Purton-partnered Like That (Akeed Mofeed) and the trainer’s double score took his tally for the term to 47 wins, 10 behind premiership leader Ricky Yiu.
Like That built on the promise of his last-start win down the 1000-metre straight with a comfortable success in the opener, the Pakistan Star Plate (1200m) for Griffins. The juvenile will next take his chance in open handicap grade.
“He’s not beaten too much, in my opinion, they’re probably Class 4 and Class 5 horses,” Moore said. “But he’s showing a bit of talent, he’s doing what he has to do and each run has been better – we’ll put him into a Class 3 1200-metre race next time and see if he can cope with the rise but he’ll have his work cut out for him in Class 3.
“I’ll keep him at 1200 metres because he’s still not the finished product. Physically, he looks quite forward for a two-year-old but his heart and lungs need development so he’s a work in progress.”
Moreira matching strides
While Purton nailed a quartet of wins all told, Moreira also snared four on the 11-race card. The big two carved up the races with merciless intent, each attempting to beat the other to a fourth Hong Kong champion jockey title.
The Brazilian took the Class 4 Mighty High Handicap (1600m) on the Me Tsui-trained Enjoy Life (Falkirk) and the Class 3 Werther Handicap (1200m) on Good Luck Friend (Swiss Ace) for the Yiu stable, and then delivered the John Size-trained first starter Scores Of Fun (Reward For Effort) to win the second section of Class 4 Mr Medici Handicap (1200m).
He wrapped up his four-timer on the Caspar Fownes-trained Defining Moment (Good Journey) in the Class 3 Blazing Speed Handicap (1800m).
Purton and Moreira ended the day as they had started it, locked on the same number of wins, this time a tally of 123 apiece. The reigning champ also scored on the Frankie Lor-trained Armor Star (Dalghar) in Race 2.
“It’s not much fun: I wish Joao would go home and make it easy!” Purton quipped.
Antoine Hamelin brought a temporary intermission to the Moreira-Purton show in race seven with a strong-driving win on the Tony Millard-trained Yee Cheong Pegasus (Lonhro) in section one of the Class 4 Helene Super Star Handicap (1200m).
After Regency Bo Bo’s mishap at the outset of the penultimate race, the Class 3 California Memory Handicap (1400m), Millard sealed a brace when the Karis Teetan-ridden Amazing Chocolate (Sepoy) streaked five and a quarter lengths clear.
Neil Callan drove the Paul O’Sullivan-trained Band Of Brothers (Sakhee’s Secret) to a late-thrusting nose success over Glorious Spectrum (Helmet) in the concluding Class 2 Viva Pataca Handicap (1400m).