Panfield soars to the top of Hong Kong’s staying ranks with Champions & Chater Cup victory
A perfect ride aboard Tony Millard-trained Panfield (Lookin At Lucky) delivered Karis Teetan success in the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) at Sha Tin yesterday and also immeasurable personal solace.
Grieving the death of close friend Nooresh Juglall in a race fall in Mauritius on May 15, Teetan dedicated the victory to his wife Xaviere after Millard’s brilliant training effort lifted some of the ‘Mauritian Magician’s’ gloom.
“I’m really glad I got this one home. It’s been a tough week. I needed this (race) to get me back to work, to the track and I want to dedicate this to my wife (Xaviere). She’s been by my side this past few weeks and she’s given me confidence every day,” he said.
“If I did not have my wife by my side, I might not have been here at the moment and she was there and kept on pushing me and gave me confidence.
“I had this horrible news last week where we lose one of my best friends and my brother in racing and I take this pretty hard. This win makes it a little bit better, but we still miss Nooresh.
“It’s been a long time since I got one of these big ones, but this feels good. You need to just keep working hard and it will come.”
Teetan tracked Exultant (Teofilo) and Zac Purton relentlessly behind pace-setter Time Warp (Archipenko) before mounting his challenge in the straight, clawing his way past the five-time Group 1 winner before withstanding a late challenge from Joao Moreira and Columbus County (Redwood).
Half a length separated Panfield and Columbus County, with Exultant a length and a quarter further back.
“At the 700 (metre mark), I knew this horse would go right through the line because he literally dropped down a gear and started to motor home,” Teetan said. “(But) you know when Joao comes next to you in a race, you know you’ve got a hard battle. In those big ones, he’s come next to me a few times and he’s got the better of me and I was like ‘C’mon Joao, not today’ and it pays off.”
Dual Derby-winning handler Millard posted his first Group 1 triumph in Hong Kong since Ambitious Dragon’s (Pins) 2013 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (Gr 1, 1400m) said Panfield – winner of three Group 1s in Chile before arriving in Hong Kong – had received a “proper Millard preparation” leading into the race.
“We did a good 1800 metre workout and if any of you saw it, it was unbelievable. He broke 60 seconds for 1000 (metres) and he came home (the last 400m) in 21.8 and Karis was hanging onto him.
I said to Karis after that, ‘I don’t care how good they are, he’s ready’,” Millard said.
“Quite clearly, a lot of the older horses are finished now so that puts him at the top spot as the best staying horse in Hong Kong.
“Karis rode a beautiful race today, that’s exactly how we planned it and it worked out to an absolute tee. I’m very happy for him because it gives him the confidence to know that if he is on the right horse that he can do it. Quite clearly this horse was the right horse today and he did everything 100 per cent.”
In addition to the HK$6.8 million in prize-money, Panfield collected a Top-Up Bonus of HK$500,000 – a payment available to horses who have already won a High Achievement Bonus of HK$1 million after winning a Class 2 race or higher before turning five.
Blake Shinn notched his first Hong Kong double since arriving in the city in 2019.
“It’s fair to say it’s been a little while in the making. It’s taken a bit longer than I would have liked. It’s just nice to get two winners in a day – it’s satisfying,” the Melbourne Cup-winning jockey said after piloting Caspar Fownes-trained Hall Of Champ (Dark Angel) to victory in the first section of the Class 3 Indigenous Handicap (1400m).
“It’s also great to get winners for David Hayes and Caspar Fownes. They’ve given me plenty of support in Hong Kong, so it’s nice to win for both of those guys.”
Shinn marked his return from suspension with victory aboard David Hayes-trained Donc Je Suis (Star Witness) in the Class 4 Viva Pataca Handicap (2000m) before Frankie Lor’s Free Foal (Press Statement) broke through for his first Hong Kong win in the Class 4 Blazing Speed Handicap (1600m) under Matthew Chadwick.
After waiting 23 starts to break through, The Hulk (Spirit Of Boom) made it two on the bounce for Fownes and Teetan in the second section of the Class 3 Vengeance Of Rain Handicap (1400m).
Joao Moreira extended his lead in the jockey’s championship with a treble, climbing to 131 wins – 20 ahead of Zac Purton (111).
Chad Schofield joined Shinn and Teetan as jockeys to savour doubles, while John Size and Fownes shared training honours with a treble apiece, leaving the trainers’ title delicately poised with Size leading Fownes 65 to 62.
By Leo Schlink
Courier Wonder impresses in Sha Tin Vase and extends record to a perfect five
Sprinting sensation Courier Wonder (Sacred Falls), 118lb, extended his unbeaten record to five at Sha Tin with an age and experience defying win in the HK$3.5 million Sha Tin Vase Handicap (Gr 3, 1200m).
Stepping up in grade as the least experienced runner in the race, the three-year-old juvenile capped his perfect debut season with a classy victory against a collection of the circuit’s best sprinters, including Computer Patch (Exceed And Excel), 132lb, and Sky Field (Deep Field), 130lb, second and third in last month’s Chairman’s Sprint Prize (Gr 1, 1200m) to Wellington (A Too Hard) on FWD Champions Day (April 25).
Under championship-leading jockey Joao Moreira, Courier Wonder broke away cleanly from gate six to settle in the box seat, before taking over at the 200m mark for a three quarters of a length victory in advance of the fast-closing Stronger (Not A Single Doubt), 130lb, and Sky Field, respectively.
“In the straight, I pulled him out and he dashed home as he always does – good horses like him give jockeys an amazing feeling,” Moreira said.
The win was Moreira’s second in the race after his triumph aboard Not Listenin’tome (Dylan Thomas) in 2015 for John Moore, while trainer John Size snared his first.
“I’m very excited (for next season), he’s the type of horse that everyone dreams to have,” Moreira said.
Courier Wonder is the full-brother to Icebath, runner-up in the 2021 Doncaster Mile Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) at Randwick Racecourse last month.
“We had a great opportunity to learn a bit more about him today, the pace was really genuine so he had a chance to settle behind others.
“When we first started turning he got a bit lost and wanted to run out today, shying away from the other horses, but as we progressed he started to relax, which is fantastic,” Moreira said.
With a pre-race rating of 100 and flickers of top-class ability, the New Zealand-bred now stands on the cusp of competing at Group 1 level after only five starts across his short career.
Plotting a path towards the Hong Kong Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m) at the 2021 LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, Size confirmed the showcase dash as the gelding’s long-term target: “That’s where we’re heading (Hong Kong Sprint).”
“There are no races I would want to run him now and I think that he probably showed that he was looking for a break anyway – that was the feeling I got watching the race live,” Size said, indicating that Courier Wonder is to have a break.
“He’s got talent and we just have to manage it and try and keep him out of harm’s way and then turn him loose on a race track,” he added.
The youngster capped an early treble for Size who succeeded with debutant winners Toronado Phantom (Toronado) and Drops Of God (Mossman), the former taking the Pakistan Star Plate (1200m) for Griffins under Chad Schofield, while the latter prevailed in the Class 4 Makarpura Star Handicap (1200m) under Moreira who would later seal a treble.
“I think there’s a lot of development in him, I’m pretty hopeful about his future – he’s going to win some races,” Size said of Toronado Phantom.
Size maintained his three-win lead at the top of the Hong Kong trainers’ championship with a treble as he bids for a 12th title, while nearest rival Caspar Fownes grabbed three of his own and moved to 62 wins in outright second place.
“He looks like the sprinter that he’s supposed to be, he’s well-behaved and even on his first day at the races he seems to do everything right,” Size said of Drops Of God.
Fownes’ three-timer kicked off with The Hulk claiming the Class 3 Vengeance Of Rain Handicap (1400m) under Karis Teetan, before Hall Of Champ claimed the first section of the Class 3 Indigenous Handicap (1400m) later in the day under Blake Shinn.
Both Fownes and Moreira capped their trebles in the finale, the Class 3 River Verdon Handicap (1200m) when Killer Bee (Savabeel) stung his rivals by a length and a half as the race’s 1.6 favourite.
“He had everything against him today, the gate, circumstances that didn’t help him – he was exposed four wide with no cover, at least he was nice and relaxed underneath.
“When I dug him up he showed that he has quality, he has class and only good horses can win under those circumstances,” Moreira said.
Hong Kong racing continues next Wednesday (May 26) at Happy Valley.