The video of his win has gone viral. And why not? Apart from the call by a surprised- and that’s putting it mildly- Brett Davis, and a look of shock on the face of jockey Karis Teetan, who was posing for the cameras thinking he had won on second placed Bear Chum, it’s not everyday that you see a horse tailed off, seemingly struggling, and then pick up the leaders as if they were standing still by gliding down the outside, and with the jockey barely moving a muscle. But that’s exactly what the Tony Cruz-trained Pakistan Star did at Shatin on Friday- Reunification Cup Day.
A HK$6 million purchase in March at the HKJC International Sale, the German-bred Pakistan Star- and recommended by not who many think had the wherewithal to have this horse checked out in the first place- was not even mentioned by Hong Kong’s wide expanse of professional tipsters. This was another dent and blow to their credibility as far as the newbies to the Sport of Kings, who don’t like losing, are concerned. Losing is a concept they don’t understand when supposedly being guided by those who know better. And how many times are they meant to lose before seeing a light at the end of the tunnel to keep them in the game?
When interviewed on that wonderfully illuminating HKJC production that is Racing To Win, Matthew Chadwick, who rode Pakistan Star to that mind-blowing win, was not even asked about the horse. He was interviewed at length about his ride Grand Prize, which failed ingloriously. Pakistan Star, meanwhile, won at 16 to 1- not exactly cricket score odds, which means that it was quietly fancied, probably by Hong Kong’s small Pakistani community.
Said trainer Tony Cruz, “I didn’t even back it. Even if I did I wouldn’t have got the quinella. The horse definitely has potential, but is pretty stubborn and does what he wants. On Friday, I guess somewhere during the course of the race, he thought, ‘Oh, well, let me show them who’s the boss!’ I couldn’t believe how quickly he ran that last quarter. Matthew didn’t even have to really touch him. He never even broke into a sweat and ate up really well that night”. Finally, some honesty. Continued Cruz aka Putha Man: “Of course, the owners were happy, You know them- Kerm Din and his fami
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