Hong Kong’s wayward son Pakistan Star came of age at Sha Tin on Sunday and smashed his rivals in the Gr1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup with a performance of uncomplicated superiority.
The Tony Cruz-trained Pakistan Star, under William Buick, lands the HK$24 million Gr1 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup (Pic – HKJC)
“He’s blown them all away,” trainer Tony Cruz said after the five-year-old had surged to a three-length victory in a fast time of 2m 00.21s, the second-fastest, in fact, in 22 renewals at the race’s current distance.
The Sha Tin faithful – never shy in displaying their ire, as Pakistan Star knows only too well – this time gave the Shamardal gelding a roaring reception. William Buick, a late call-up for the ride, lapped every cheer as he and the green-hooded hero returned to unsaddle.
Buick replaced Australian Kerrin McEvoy – laid low with an ear infection at Hawkesbury races on Saturday – who was booked after first choice Silvestre de Sousa was required to remain in England.
The new-look Hong Kong Champions Day, with three Gr1 features, drew 48,242 race-goers with betting turnover the highest ever for QEII Cup day – up by 6.4% on the same day last year.
“We had turnover of HK$1.526 billion,” said Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said. “One of the key drivers of the positive increase is definitely commingling. With commingling, we had a figure of HK$244 million, which is up 133% on 2017.”
A star was born in the HK$16 million Chairman’s Sprint Prize as the John Size-trained Ivictory defied a hefty rise in class and two outstanding stablemates to claim the 1200m Group 1 in a rare stable first three in this level of race.
Hong Kong’s reigning champion trainer Size had not only the quantity, with five runners, but also the quality with the last-start Class 2 course record-setting winner beating Hong Kong Sprint winner Mr Stunning and the Sprint Cup winner Beat The Clock by a half-length and a neck respectively.
Beauty Generation put himself into the picture for Hong Kong Horse of the Year honours after confirming his place as the best 1600m horse in town with victory in the G1 Champions Mile.
Beauty Generation trained by John Moore and ridden by Zac Purton, wins the Gr1 Champions Mile (Pic – HKJC)
The win in the HK$18 million feature was the John Moore-trained Beauty Generation’s third Group 1 score of the season, following his wins in December’s Hong Kong Mile and the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup over 1400m in February.
In completing the Hong Kong Mile-Champions Mile double, Beauty Generation joined an elite group of horses: Good Ba Ba (2007/08), Able Friend (2014/15) and Maurice (2015/16) were the only three to have achieved the feat before today.
The South African-bred Singapore Sling was up with the action for a long way but was kept wide and faded late to run a creditable fifth.
