Exultant, Furore Battle in Hong Kong's Group 1 Finale

The Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (G1), the last top-level race of the Hong Kong season, is an all-local affair as the foreign nominees were kept away from the May 24 feature at Sha Tin Racecourse by pandemic-related travel restrictions.

That leaves trainer Tony Cruz to send out three of the seven entries, with John Moore fielding the other four. Cruz would seem to have the upper hand.

His contingent includes likely favorite Exultant, who could nail down Hong Kong's Horse of the Year title with a win. The 6-year-old Teofilo gelding has three wins this season, albeit only one at the highest level. That was the FWD QE II Cup (G1) on Champions Day, when he easily got by pacesetting Time Warp, a stablemate but also an old nemesis, then held off yet another Cruz runner, Furore, for the win. Exultant's regular rider, Zac Purton, is back aboard.

Both Furore and Time Warp are back for another try, but Cruz said he feels Furore, the 2019 BMW Hong Kong Derby winner, is more likely to test Exultant.

"Furore had a little bit of mucus in his throat last time, so I think he can run a better race this time," Cruz said Friday. "I think he's the one that could give Exultant a race. Time Warp might not stay this distance, but Furore should handle the trip."

Cruz knows the race as well as anyone. He won it three times as a jockey and has taken down six of the past seven runnings as a trainer.

Furore's rider, Karis Teetan, acknowledged Exultant stole away to what amounted to an insurmountable advantage at midstretch in the QE II Cup and said he doesn't intend for that to happen again.

"I'll definitely make sure that wherever he is, if he's taking off or whatever he's doing, I'll try to track him more closely and see. But, of course, I'm not going to mess my chance—I'll have him where I think he can win the race. But I also know how good Exultant is if he takes off," Teetan said.

Teetan and Furore might have an ace up their sleeve in the form of nasty weather. Rain pelted Hong Kong late in the week, with more forecast for Saturday before clearing on race day. A boggy track would not help Exultant.

"I don't want a downpour. That's my concern," Cruz said. "As long as the track is good to firm, as normal, Exultant should win this race again. But I want that normal track."

Teetan said he doesn't think Furore would mind moisture in the surface.

"I don’t think it'll be a problem," said the native of Mauritius. "I trialed him last week on the all-weather and he went nicely, and Tony and his team have confidence in how the horses are going."

Moore, in his final season at Hong Kong due to mandatory retirement age, has the outsiders in the race despite the slight numerical advantage, but his hopes remain high.

"If the favorite doesn't come with his 'A' game at the weekend, we come right there with all guns blazing. It would be great to depart Hong Kong on a group 1 win, and as far as I'm concerned, we have a great chance of doing that," Moore said.

Cruz has replaced jockey Joao Moreira, who rode Time Warp in his two previous starts, with Chad Schofield. Moreira lands on Savvy Nine, a longshot among Moore's quartet. With Purton and Moreira locked in a duel for the jockey premiership, the switch could be an important factor.

Moore identified Savvy Nine and stablemate Helene Charisma as potential beneficiaries of a wet course.

"They'll think they're back at Longchamp or something," Moore said.