Variety Club gives them a galloping lesson
SA’s dual horse of the year made a high class field look ordinary in today’s Hong Kong Champions Mile. Anton Marcus knows this horse better than anyone and ensured that when the gates opened, he made maximum use of the 5yo’s famous gate speed. They overcame their 12 draw very economically to get to the head of affairs early on.
Sitting a comfortable second most of the race, he took a commanding lead coming into the straight and it really was a matter of who would finish second. Able Friend did his very best to try and eat into the deficit, but it was too little too late and our champion crossed the line 4 lengths ahead of his nearest rival in a time of 1:34.11.
The final result was:-
2. Variety Club
8. Able Friend
6. Dan Excel
1. Glorious Days
Variety Club
Jockey Anton Marcus commented “Pure elation! Hard to put into words right now. It was pretty much self-explanatory what you saw.” The race commentator was moved to say “He’s not just beaten them, he’s given them an absolute hiding.”
And that more or less sums it up. With the South African anthem ringing out across Sha Tin, we are left to reflect that Variety Club has proved victorious in 3 countries and the only question really remaining is where to now?
The Hong Kong Champions Mile forms part of the Breeders Cup Challenge series and winners automatically qualify for the Breeders Cup Mile at the end of the year. The Champions Mile also forms the third leg of the Asian Mile Challenge which consists of 4 races including Melbourne’s Futurity Stakes at Caulfield, the Dubai Duty Free Stakes at Meydan and the Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse . The Yasuda Kinen, which takes place in June, carries a stake of US$1 million. There is an additional US$1 million bonus on offer to any horse who wins two legs of the four-race Asian Mile Challenge.
Watch this space.
