Beauty Generation Back to His Best in Chairman's Trophy

The old man's not done yet.

After struggling through the early part of the season, Beauty Generation scored his second consecutive win April 5 at Sha Tin Racecourse, landing a repeat victory in the Chairman's Trophy (G2) and sustaining hopes for a third straight Horse of the Year title.

The race was to have been a showdown between the 8-year-old Road To Rock gelding and his 5-year-old rival, Waikuku, who bedeviled him throughout the 2019-20 campaign. Things went to plan for Beauty Generation and jockey Zac Purton but not so much for Joao Moreira and Waikuku.

Beauty Generation started the one-mile race just off the flank of pacesetter Ka Ying Star, then took back to run a comfortable second around the turn. Moreira kept Waikuku in a box seat along the rail, within easy striking range.

Heading home, Beauty Generation eased by Ka Ying Star with only minimal encouragement from Purton and won smoothly by a half-length, with Southern Legend along for third. Waikuku weakened at midstretch and faded to beat only Fat Turtle in the seven-horse field.

Beauty Generation, trained by John Moore for Patrick Kwok Ho Chuen, reported in a respectable 1:33.49. His hopes to retain the Hong Kong Horse of the Year honor now likely hinge on his performance in the April 26 FWD Champions Mile (G1), a race he won the two previous years.

"He's done that nicely leading into the Champions Mile," Moore said. "He's 100% right now, so I've just got to carry that through the next three weeks. It was a very nice win, the tempo was absolutely perfect, and everything went to plan. My fellow wasn't hit, it was hands and heels, so it's a good sign for the Champions Mile. Everything is positive."

Another barrier might loom there, however, as the Champions Mile field is expected to include Hong Kong's greatest promise for the future, Golden Sixty, who exits a sweep of the local 4-year-old Classic Series.

"I'm worried" about Golden Sixty, Moore said. "Golden Sixty is an exceptional racehorse on the up. He's got age on his side, he hits the line seriously strongly, so it's making for a great race, and that's what the world wants to see."

Beauty Generation won his 18th race in Hong Kong, equaling the mark of the legendary Silent Witness, who won 17 races in Hong Kong, plus one in Japan. He also extended his all-time prize-money record to HK$100,422,500, just shy of US$13 million.

"That's a target to set!" Moore said. "The prize money will have to go up for a horse ever to do that. My own target for him was $120 million, but it needed a win in Dubai to get there."

Moore lobbied last season to send Beauty Generation to Japan and this season to try Dubai, but the plan was nixed both times by the Kwok family.

Voyage Warrior Upsets Sprint Cup

Like the Chairman's Trophy, the day's secondary feature, the Sprint Cup (G2), also failed to produce the expected generational showdown between favorites. Instead, it generated a massive upset.

Voyage Warrior, under Vincent Ho, showed the way and held off Hot King Prawn by three-quarters of a length. Thanks Forever was third. The rivalry between 5-year-old Hot King Prawn and 3-year-old sensation Aethero fizzled when the latter was forced to take up sharply nearing the end of the backstretch, then could find no more in the late going, fading to finish last of eight as the favorite.

Voyage Warrior, a 4-year-old Declaration of War gelding, had three wins from four starts last season but was dispatched at odds of 24-1 after going 1-for-5 this term.

"He's maturing, and that has meant he's had some ups and downs," winning trainer Ricky Yiu said. "He's had bad patches, but he's improving, and each time he's gone over 1,200 meters (six furlongs), he's run better."

Yiu also credited an extended stay at the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Conghua training facility on the mainland with helping settle his charge.

"He's much more relaxed now," Yiu said. "He's not pulling like he was."

The trainer said Voyage Warrior's rediscovered vigor will be put to the test again April 26 in the Chairman's Sprint Prize (G1) when he likely will face the same rivals over the identical 1,200-meter trip.

Despite the disappointment on Aethero, who had won five of seven starts, Purton tightened the seasonal jockey competition slightly, winning three on the card to Moreira's two. Moreira now has 97 wins, Purton 95.