Defending Champs Fall in Hong Kong International Races

On a day in which all four defending champions were beaten, Japanese runners dominated the Longines Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin, winning three in the group 1 quartet Dec. 8.

Along with Win Bright's victory in the Longines Hong Kong Cup (G1), Glory Vase found success among some world-class stayers in the Longines Hong Kong Vase (G1) and Admire Mars posted a major upset in the Longines Hong Kong Mile (G1).

Beat The Clock salvaged something for the home team with a victory in the Longines Hong Kong Sprint (G1).

The races were run without a hitch despite protests that have roiled in Hong Kong for six months and forced cancellation or postponement of many sports and entertainment fixtures.

The weather cooperated, too, with sunny skies, cool temperatures, and good turf.

In the Longines Hong Kong Vase, aptly named Glory Vase found a handy hole between rivals at the top of the stretch, shot through, and drew away to win by 3 1/2 lengths over Lucky Lilac, giving Japan a 1-2 finish in the 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2-mile) race. Last year's winner and this year's favorite, Exultant, showed the way to the top of the lane but could only hold on for third. Japan's Deirdre was fourth.

"He just kept in the race," said winning jockey Joao Moreira, who had Glory Vase midpack and under cover most of the way. "Just before the turn for home, he was in a little trap, and I had to hope a gap opened up. It did."

A 4-year-old colt by Deep Impact, Glory Vase races for the same Silk Racing that campaigns star filly Almond Eye, who missed the Hong Kong Cup after spiking a fever on the eve of her scheduled trip from Japan. Glory Vase's previous best effort was a second behind Fierement in the Tenno Sho (Spring, G1) in April. He finished sixth in the Kyoto Daishoten (G2) at Kyoto in his sole autumn prep for Hong Kong.

Anthony Van Dyck, winner of the Investec Derby (G1) in June, tracked right behind Exultant through much of the Vase, then faded in the stretch to finish 12th. Prince of Arran, who placed second in the Lexus Melbourne Cup (G1), was never in the mix and reported 11th of the 14 Vase starters.

Moreira made it two in a row with a late-running neck victory aboard Beat The Clock in the Hong Kong Sprint. Racing midpack early in the 1,200-meter (about six-furlong) heat, Beat The Clock chased down frontrunning favorite Aethero in deep stretch.

Hot King Prawn also put in a late bid, edging Aethero for second by a short head, giving trainer John Size a 1-2 finish in a race usually dominated by local runners. Mr Stunning, winner of the Sprint in both 2017 and 2018, finished fourth.

"It's his fighting spirit," Size said of the late effort by Beat The Clock, a 6-year-old Hinchinbrook gelding. "He saves himself for race day, and he'll sleep for a week now. … It's very humbling to watch a performance like that."

Moreira said he wasn't happy with his chances when Beat The Clock broke well behind the early speedsters.

"I really realized we were coming into the race with a furlong to go," he said.

Beat The Clock won the Chairman's Sprint Prize (G1) in April to seal his 2018-19 championship, then was idle until Nov. 17, when he got home third behind Aethero in the Jockey Club Sprint (G2), the local prep for the big race.

Yet another two-time winner tumbled to defeat in the Longines Hong Kong Mile. Admire Mars, with Christophe Soumillon at the controls, got rolling as the field turned into the straight, seized the lead close to home, and held on to defeat Waikuku by a half-length.

Beauty Generation, the reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year and winner of the Mile in 2017 and 2018, raced in second, gave it his best in the final 100 meters, but could do no better than third—his third consecutive finish in that position and an indication he may finally be slowing down at 7.

"The first time I saw Beauty Generation run this year, I saw he didn't have the magic he had last year," Soumillon said. "That gave me hope that I could win."

Soumillon said he was surprised to see Admire Mars dismissed at odds of 26-1.

"He was the best 2-year-old in Japan last year, maybe the best 3-year-old this year," Soumillon said. "So I rode my horse like he was the favorite."

Admire Mars came to Hong Kong the winner of five of his eight starts, including the NHK Mile Cup (G1) restricted to 3-year-olds. The Daiwa Major colt races in the two-tone blue colors of prominent Japanese owner Riichi Kondo, who passed away in November.

"I hope the whole family will continue to make these colors famous around the world," Soumillon said.