After a few anxious moments with horses going in and coming out and some “spoiler alerts” from those who should know better, The Greatest Show On Turf put on a spectacular display at Shatin Racecourse on Sunday where Actress Kate Winslet mingled with Cantonese superstar Aaron Kwok, legendary Actor Omar Sharif watched over his horse Don Bosco and heads turned so fast to look towards the quite ravishing Francesca Cumani that they must have suffered from whiplash.
She really is a thoroughbred beauty and was the pick of our paddock parade.
This all happened when Longines International Races hit the ground running and let action speak louder than worlds.
And what magnificent thoroughbred action it was with a magnificent treble by Zac Purton who is now truly an International Group 1 winning jockey. And it happened almost overnight- meaning this year.
First there was his win at Ascot, then he took out The Jockeys Super Series in Japan last month and last Wednesday came within a nostril hair of taking out the Longines Hong Kong International Championship.
Through his other two winners were good enough, it was taking out the Longines Hong Kong Mile aboard Ambitious Dragon that impressed us the most.
Despite it having to pass a vet’s check on the morning of the race which didn’t seem to augur well and racing pundits painted a dark cloud over the horse, fans of the horse didn’t care- and neither did Ambitious Dragon. It was a suddenly rejuvenated horse which was the talk of the post mortems.
Whatever the rumour mongers might choke on to make their case, It made the win look very easy and The Zac Attack cheekily looking back at Dougie Whyte on the second placed Glorious Days as if to say, “Not good enough, mate”, added to the drama surrounding the horse’s win after the dark cloud and a very creditable training performance by Tony Millard.
“Millie” plays his cards very close to his chest and shies away from the media unlike a few other trainers we know who suffer from acute sour grapes, and we have to wonder what was going through his mind when it looked as if the horse wouldn’t get a start.
Other International winners on this truly international day were from Japan- Lord Kanaloa- and the UK horse which has a very strong Hong Kong connection- the Ronald Arculli-owned Red Cadeaux and showed why Gerard Mosse is a world class jockey.
It was a brilliant ride that made Jimmy Cassidy’s ride in the Sprint on Sea Siren prove how many of the so-called top jocks look fucking ordinary. It was awful to watch. The Pumper can stay in Oz and pump for all his worth. On the world stage, he is crap.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong struck again in the Longines Cup when an extremely cool, calm and collected Matthew Chadwick rode California Memory with extreme confidence and to a soft win. And what a great training effort by Tony Cruz to get this champion galloper back to its winning ways.
With turnover of nearly HK$1.3billion, it wasn’t all about the money. It was about a very International crowd coming together to enjoy a brilliant day at the races and where two and four legged champions met to do battle and where win, lose or draw, everyone went home winners.
Except for the losers talking through their pockets and having to always see a half-empty glass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuXZ-gNSWos
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