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Japanese-Trained Normcore Upstages Magical In Hong Kong Cup

Zac Purton has crowned a week of stellar milestones by becoming the first rider in history to partner nine Hong Kong International Races winners after Japanese mare Normcore upstaged Win Bright and Magical in the HK$28 million G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin.

Purton, 37, gained the ride on the grey after Christophe Soumillon was forced to forfeit the mount after failing to secure an unconditional release from quarantine following a COVID test on Thursday.

On Wednesday at Happy Valley, Purton became only the second jockey after Douglas Whyte to ride 1,200 winners in Hong Kong.

The reigning jockey champion, Purton was jubilant after breaking the Hong Kong International Races' tie he had shared with Frenchman Gerard Mosse after Normcore outsprinted fellow Japan's Win Bright and Ireland's Magical.

“It's something I'm very proud of, it's a great achievement,” he said.

“To also now be the only jockey to win the full set of international races twice is also for myself somewhat rewarding.

“Hopefully, I can just can continue to have luck at this meeting going forward.

“It's been a great week, I'm very thankful that I get these opportunities.”

Purton was grateful to regain the ride on Normcore, whose previous G1 triumph came in the Victoria Mile when partnered by another Australian, Damian Lane, in May 2019.

“Initially we sort of confirmed the ride and then when it was announced Christophe was coming, they changed their mind. They're entitled to do that,” Purton said.

“It was what it was, I just had to accept that. Thankfully, it came back.”

Purton has been synonymous with Hong Kong International Races success with eight previous triumphs on the jurisdiction's most prestigious day.

The New South Welshman savored Vase glory with Dominant (2013) and Exultant (2018), the Mile with Ambitious Dragon (2012), Beauty Only (2016) and Beauty Generation (2018), Sprint with Aerovelocity (2014 and 2016) and the Cup with Time Warp in 2017.

Purton stalked the 2019 Cup winner Win Bright in the run before peeling widest in a riveting global contest.

Japan's three runners finished in the top four, with Danon Premium trailing Magical to the line.

“She (Normcore) had to fight for it, Win Bright gave a really sharp kick and his love for Sha Tin was starting to show through,” Purton said.

“But she was determined and inch by inch, she just kept putting herself in the frame.”

Trained by Kiyoshi Hagiwara, Normcore ran fourth to Admire Mars in last year's Hong Kong Mile.

Hagiwara has handled several topliners since taking out a trainers' licence in 1996, including Logi Universe, Le Vent Se Leve and Obruchev.

Ryan Moore said a slackening mid-race tempo wrecked Magical's chances of becoming the first horse trained by Aidan O'Brien to snare eight G1s.

“There was a lack of pace so therefore I couldn't go where I wanted to go,” Moore said.

“She ran well.”

Normcore is the first filly or mare to win a HKIR since Ed Dunlop's champion Snow Fairy took the Cup in 2010.

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Hometown Hero Golden Sixty Runs Win Streak To 11 With Hong Kong Mile Triumph

They came, they saw, they tried to blunt his dash, but they failed to conquer Golden Sixty: Hong Kong's burgeoning hometown hero dismantled his international rivals in the HK$25 million G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin with an exquisite performance.

“He's amazing, isn't he?” jockey Vincent Ho said, moments after the brilliant 5-year-old unleashed an unanswerable burst of speed that carried him to a dazzling two-length victory.

For Ho and trainer Francis Lui, Golden Sixty's success is a first at the Hong Kong International Races.

Lui was delighted and relieved to see his standout galloper seal a 14th win from 15 starts, and surpass the great Beauty Generation's 10 wins in a row with his 11th-straight triumph – in Hong Kong, only the near-immortal Silent Witness has won more races on the bounce.

“I can have a good sleep tonight!” Lui declared. “I'm very happy – at the moment, I don't know what to say, (my heart) is still pumping. As a jockey, as a trainer, as an owner, you're dreaming of this.

“I was worried about the horses from Japan and Ireland but now, after this race, he has shown me that he's a champion.”

Lui's pre-race concerns were natural with Japan's 2019 victor Admire Mars in the line-up along with last-start G1 Breeders' Cup Mile winner Order Of Australia, from Ireland's powerful Aidan O'Brien stable. But his anxiety proved needless, the invaders were no match for last season's BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) winner, who races in the silks of Stanley Chan Ka-leung.

With speed enough to have posted nine wins at 1200m and 1400m, and the fortitude to last the local Derby's 10 furlongs, the Medaglia d'Oro gelding seems to have it all.

When the gates crashed back, Ho exhibited apposite confidence on the 1.3 favorite, allowing his mount to settle third-last – seven lengths off the lead – while Ryan Moore pressed Admire Mars forward to stalk outside the front-running Ka Ying Star.

“They went a little bit hard early and I was quite far back, so I just let him slide through from the 600 (meters) and it only took him a few strides to almost get to them. I tried to save him until I let him down and when I asked for him, he did it really well, he gave me a really big effort,” Ho said with typically deadpan understatement.

Golden Sixty cruised around the field turning for home; the Australian-bred bounded rapidly through his gears and when he hit top speed, his stride was a blur of quickening power.

“When I hit the top of the straight, I knew,” Ho said. “I was just cruising and I didn't think anyone could beat him in that sort of sprint.

“He's a horse that really wants to compete, he's the best horse in Hong Kong at the moment. Today is all about him.”

Golden Sixty's winning time was 1:33.45; his closing 400m spilt, a strong 22.05.

Such a performance, with the admirable G1 FWD Champions Mile winner Southern Legend second and Admire Mars a battling third, sees Golden Sixty take up the baton as Hong Kong's latest star from the once imperious Beauty Generation.

Connections announced shortly after the race that 8-year-old Beauty Generation will race no more. Hong Kong's highest-rated galloper of all time – rated the equal of another great miler, Able Friend – bowed out with a meritorious fifth place and a Hong Kong career tally of 18 wins from 34 starts, as well as the local all-time record prize money haul of HK$106,233,750.

At his peak, Beauty Generation was an incredible force around Sha Tin, claiming two editions of the Hong Kong Mile among his eight G1 wins for trainer John Moore – his last three races came under the care of trainer David Hayes.

“I knew it may be on the table,” said Zac Purton, who rode the Kwok family's champion 28 times.

Beauty Generation

“It's a bitter-sweet day. It's a sad end. He's been the best horse for me in my career. I'm certainly going to miss him. He was brave again today and wherever he may go in the world, I'm sure I'll go and visit him in his paddock one day.”

Beauty Generation was high-class in Australia before scaling Hong Kong's heights but never ventured away from Sha Tin to test his mettle as a champion overseas. Lui said when pressed that the Golden Sixty team will consider off-shore options in the future but not while the world remains in its pandemic-induced turmoil.

“Not this season,” he said. “Because of the virus, we'll keep him in Hong Kong this season.”

With Ireland's Mogul carrying off the Hong Kong Vase and Japanese raiders Danon Smash and Normcore capturing the Hong Kong Sprint and Hong Kong Cup respectively, Hong Kong needed a big performance from its latest home town hero.

Golden Sixty delivered just that, and with it, the promise that Hong Kong has unearthed yet another athlete to rank among the world's best.

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Like Father, Like Son: Danon Smash Takes Hong Kong Sprint For Japan

Danon Smash followed in the footsteps of his sire Lord Kanaloa with a thrilling victory for Japan on Sunday in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1200 meters) at Sha Tin, their third in the HK$22 million contest's 21-year history.

“It is a very pleasing moment that Lord Kanaloa and Danon Smash, sire and son could achieve their Hong Kong wins – it's a happy moment,” said a representative for trainer Takayuki Yasuda.

Lord Kanaloa landed Sha Tin's premier dash twice in 2012 and 2013, and was also trained by Yasuda, and Danon Smash joined the honor roll with a gritty success under Ryan Moore, who one race prior, secured the G1 Hong Kong Vase (2400m) aboard Mogul.

“We got lucky – he stepped very well and we managed to slot into a lovely spot, I was always happy and when the pace steadied around the bend, I was able to just move out and keep moving forward and he got there in plenty of time,” Moore said.

The Lord Kanaloa 5-year-old broke cleanly from the widest gate of 14 to sit midfield under Moore, who peeled out at the 300 meter mark to grind his way to a half-length victory in a time of 1:08.45, staving off the fast-finishing Jolly Banner in second, while Rattan rattled into third.

“He was very tough and very honest – he was a pleasure to ride and he'd shown very good form at times in Japan's best sprints and at seven furlongs as well he's won some of the best races at Group 2 level and he deserved to win his Group 1,” Moore said.

The speedy bay has finished third and second in the last two editions of the G1 Sprinters Stakes (1200m) at Nakayama, and is a four-time G3 winner and two-time G2 victor.

“I'm delighted and just thankful for being asked to ride him and I also need to thank the owners Danox and Mr. Yasuda certainly knows how to prepare a sprinter for a Hong Kong Sprint,” the British ace said.

The 114-rater landed the 10th win of his career today, and followed last start's runner-up effort to Gran Alegria with a triumph today, his first at the top-level after eight attempts.

“I gave him a gentle breeze on Wednesday morning – it wasn't anything strenuous, there was no real comments to say, no one was worried by anything about the horse but no one was overly bullish about the horse,” Moore said.

Today's pair of wins are Moore's seventh at the Hong Kong International Races, the most any international-based rider in history.

“I think when he got the draw we were all possibly a bit worried and we needed to see what happens and thankfully everything worked his way and we just had a bit of luck and everything worked out nicely,” Moore said.

Classique Legend battled on for 11th, while favorite Hot King Prawn was overhauled and faded to finish seventh as the dominant 2.1 market elect.

While Hong Kong's current sprinting ranks were on show in the HK$22 million contest, the future was on show four races later as Winning Dreamer extended his unbeaten record to a perfect six with victory in the aptly named Class 2 Lord Kanaloa Handicap (1200m).

The speedster charged to a comfortable one-length victory, while Sky Field could only manage sixth.

“I'm thinking the first of January, there is a 1400 meter race at G3 level to see if we can know more whether he can step up to 1600 meters,” trainer Frankie Lor said.

The G3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup Handicap (1400m) on January 1, 2021, will see Winning Dreamer put his Hong Kong Classic Mile credentials on the line, or, if the son of Deep Field will keep to the sprint distances.

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Fifth In Breeders’ Cup Turf, Mogul Proves Best In Hong Kong Vase

Vindicating Aidan O'Brien's long-held faith, Mogul has emphatically underlined claims as heir apparent to Ballydoyle's throne after claiming victory in Sunday's HK$20 million Longines Hong Kong Vase (2400m) at Sha Tin.

Providing Aidan O'Brien's third triumph in the race, adding to Highland Reel's 2015 and 2017 wins, Mogul downed Hong Kong champion Exultant and Columbus County to also give Ryan Moore his third Vase success.

Yet another son of Galileo, Mogul has long been touted as the next world-beater to emerge from O'Brien's yard and proved his class by overwhelming Exultant, a five-time G1 winner and Hong Kong's reigning Horse of the Year.

While elated at notching his sixth Hong Kong International Races victory, Moore was unsurprised by the quality of Mogul's performance.

“He's a horse that we always expected a lot from,” Moore said.

“He was a good 2-year-old, he won his G2 race (Champions Juvenile Stakes) at Leopardstown. I don't know, maybe just the way the season unfolded, he took a while to really pull himself together.

“Maybe he was just a bit behind Derby Day (when sixth to Serpentine) and we were always on the back foot. He was super impressive when he won in Paris (Grand Prix de Paris) and his Breeders' Cup run (fifth behind Tarnawa in the Breeders' Cup Turf) wasn't without merit.

“Today, the race worked out nicely for him, he's beaten a really solid yardstick in Exultant. He (Exultant) always seems to consistently perform to the same level and never seems to run a bad race around here.

“He's put them away very nicely.

“In reality, I was in front sooner than would have been ideal today but he took me there nicely.

“When he gets in front, he maybe lacks a bit of concentration still but he's a beautiful looking horse.

“He's got a fantastic mind and it doesn't stress him. He'll be a really nice three-year-old.”

Owned by Coolmore, Mogul's laidback mindset lends itself to another international campaign as a 4-year-old.

“He has a great mind, so traveling won't stress him. He loves decent ground,” Moore said.

“I think a few times the ground was made a little bit against him. Maybe even in America, the pace was wrong but the ground might have been loose enough.

“At York, the ground might have been deep enough for him that day.

“These fast, flat tracks suit him. They let him show what class he has.”

Moore first travelled to Hong Kong in 2001 as a teenager, never dreaming he would rise to acclaim as Longines World's Best Jockey among a host of other accolades.

“I've always loved coming to Hong Kong. I came here when I was 18 and they were doing the breeze up sale and I've always loved coming here,” he said.

“I hadn't even rode as an apprentice then and I remember coming here and watching Douglas (Whyte) ride all the winners.

“It was a different time but it was always a great atmosphere and you know how much it means to the punters here. They love their racing and it will be great to have them back here.

“It's fantastic racing and competitive racing. It's been a shame I wasn't able to get over here earlier this year but hopefully we can come again.

“The year for everyone has been a mess but we're very thankful to everyone at the Hong Kong Jockey Club for getting me over. It's been a big effort and I can't really stress enough the time they've put in.

“We're very thankful to get us over here.”

Representing O'Brien, Ballydoyle's John Manton praised Mogul's display.

“He was brilliant there today and he travelled well,” he said. “All week, he's been doing everything we've asked him to do and today worked out just perfectly.

“He picked up well and ran well out to the line. He was very good.

“He took a few runs at the start of the year and came on from it. He ran well in the Breeders' Cup but he was a small bit unlucky as well.

“He came here in very good form and Aidan was confident about him. Everything just went to plan.

“It worked out well, thank God.

“He likes a good pace, just held up and he runs home well off it. He's got a great stride and he's just a very good horse.

“Ryan was very happy with him and said he was just class. A push-button ride.

“Hopefully we'll be back here again next with him and we can do it again.”

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