Ima Single Man strikes for Cruz as Leung posts Sha Tin treble
Tony Cruz will set Ima Single Man (Gingerbread Man) for the Hong Kong Classic Mile (Listed, 1600m) next month after a superb ride from Matthew Poon enabled the Australian import to land the Class 2 Lukfook Jewellery Cup Handicap (1400m) at Sha Tin yesterday.
Winner of the Karrakatta Plate (Gr 2, 1200m) as a two-year-old at Ascot in April 2020 before export, Ima Single Man now has three victories in Hong Kong for Cruz with his latest success comfortably the most significant, courtesy of a breathtaking Poon ride.
Trapped on the fence deep into the straight behind a wall of horses, Poon initially angled out in search of clear ground before steering back to the rails, allowing Ima Single Man to accelerate doggedly to deny Circuit Three (Savabeel) and Shining Gem (Makfi).
“He’ll definitely go for the Classic Mile. I might give him a little breather. I’ll have a look at the programme,” Cruz said. “He got the luck of the draw (barrier two), that played the biggest part in it (the win).
“Somehow, he had a good start. He’s not a very fast horse – he’s never been a fast horse – but, somehow, he got the inside run and he sneaked up. I think the luck of the draw played the biggest role and the jockey rode the perfect race, too.”
The Hong Kong Classic Mile on January 30 is the first leg of the lucrative Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which also features the Hong Kong Classic Cup (Listed, 1800m) on February 27 and culminates in the Hong Kong Derby (Listed, 2000m) on March 20.
New Zealand Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Rocket Spade (Fastnet Rock), who is being aimed at the Hong Kong Derby, produced an eye-catching debut effort to cross in fourth place behind Ima Single Man.
Derek Leung, 33, took riding honours at the meeting with a treble, clinching a three-timer when seven-year-old Gunnison (Not A Single Doubt) edged out Magic Supreme (Zoustar) by a short head to win the Lukfook Jewellery Dear Q Handicap (1200m, dirt), following Leung’s earlier victories on Classic Moon (Tavistock) and Flying Dragon (Per Incanto).
“I knew today we were going to have good results because I had good support today,” Leung said. “Just to draw well today meant I had some horses with good chances to do well and they have run well (recently). It’s good to ride three winners.”
Hong Kong International Sale graduate Romantic Warrior (Acclamation) continued a sharp rise for Danny Shum and earned an ISG Bonus of HK$600,000 (approx. AU$107,925) for his owner Peter Lau by winning the Class 3 Lukfook Jewellery F-style PT in Style Collection Handicap (1200m) under Joao Moreira.
Unbeaten in three starts, the three-year-old raced in midfield before accelerating impressively in the straight to give Shum his 15th win of the campaign.
Shum indicated the youngster might also be given a shot at the Hong Kong Classic Mile.
Moreira cut injured Zac Purton’s lead in the jockeys’ championship to five wins when he sealed a double aboard Soulmate (Nicconi) in the Class 3 Lukfook Jewellery F-style Hey Cool Collection Handicap (1600m).
Moreira has 44 wins for the season, compared to Purton’s 49.
Chris So was pleasantly surprised by Classic Moon’s victory in the Class 4 Lukfook Jewellery Hexicon Handicap (1200m) under Leung with the first-starter far exceeding the trainer’s expectations.
“The horse is still green and I didn’t think he was ready to win today but he was good,” So said. “We knew he had potential but I didn’t think he would win his start, and from draw 11. I told the owner I thought he should run well, hopefully finish midfield – that would have been acceptable – and we plan for the next start, but luckily we won.”
Paul O’Sullivan hopes August Moon (Highly Recommended) can continue to develop after the gelding claimed the Class 5 Lukfook Jewellery Love Is Beauty Collection Handicap (1200m) under Jerry Chau.
“He’s been a slow-maturing horse who’s just taken time. He got the best run in the race by 100 yards and hopefully he can go on with it now,” O’Sullivan said.
Benno Yung harbours similar hopes for Incredible (Orpen), who continued his consistent season with a second victory in three starts, this time in the Class 5 Lukfook Jewellery Wedding Collection Handicap (1600m) under Keith Yeung.
“He’s healthy and racing well and hopefully he can win in Class 5 again,” Yung said on posting his 11th win for the season.
Peter Ho attributed Happy Daily’s (Pins) victory in the Class 4 Lukfook Jewellery Goldstyle Handicap (1400m) to Karis Teetan’s composure after the gelding scored from a favourable barrier (four).
“In the past few runs, he’s had no luck with wide draws. Fortunately, today he got a good draw and was able to sit and sprint. I’m happy because Karis did a good job,” he said.
Tony Millard’s decision to drop Ezra (Oratorio)n back from 2000 metres yielded immediate dividends when the grey snared the Class 4 Lukfook Jewellery Love Forever Collection Handicap (1600m) under Ruan Maia.
“We’ve been running him over 2000 metres and we decided to give him a change, but when the draw came out, I thought it was a disaster but the race worked exactly as I had planned, so we were quite lucky,” Millard said.
“He’s a nice horse, he’s earned his way as a relatively inexpensive South African horse. He’s been competitive and stayed sound. He’s done a good job.”
Maia, who posted his sixth winner for the campaign, said: “I’m very happy. Thanks so much to Tony. The trainers are still giving me support and I’m still working hard.”