Hong Kong Sweeps Singapore Races Again

Hong Kong raiders dominated Singapore's top races for the third straight year May 17 as Dan Excel repeated as winner of the Singapore Airlines International Cup (Sin-I) and Aerovelocity won the KrisFlyer Sprint (Sin-I).

 

Military Attack, who won the SAI Cup two years ago, was a narrow second Sunday around the Kranji turf course, putting an exclamation point to the Hong Kong domination.

 

Dan Excel, a 7-year-old Shamardal gelding, went immediately to the front in the 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4 miles) Cup, shadowed by Japanese runner Meiner Frost, with Military Attack running smoothly in third. They ran that way down the backstretch until Meiner Frost made his bid outside the leader with local hope Quechua third.

 

The Japanese gray faded through the final 100 yards, but Military Attack kept coming and was narrowing the gap as Dan Excel hit the wire a half length in front. Quechua finished third with Meiner Frost fourth.

 

"It's a dream come true," said winning trainer John Moore. "I said before the race that he was in better form than last year."

 

Winning jockey Tommy Berry seconded that assessment, riding with confidence throughout. Dan Excel finished in 2:01.52 over good turf as day-long threatening skies never delivered the looming thunderstorms to the track.

 

Hong Kong-based Aerovelocity had no trouble keeping Hong Kong atop the KrisFlyer Sprint in the race prior to the SAI Cup. With Zac Purton up, Aerovelocity dueled with local filly sprint star Kiwi Karma, took over in the final 200 meters and won by 1 1/2 lengths while covering 1,200 meters (about six furlongs) in 1:09.05. 

 

Singapore runner Emperor Max was up for second and Lucky Nine, who captured the KrisFlyer Sprint for Hong Kong last year and in 2013, finished third after lacking room early in the stretch run.

 

Aerovelocity, a 6-year-old Pins gelding, won the Longines Hong Kong Sprint (HK-I) last December and the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (Jpn-I) March 20. The Japanese race and Sunday's race are both legs of the Global Sprint Challenge. Should Aerovelocity win once more in a different jurisdiction—say a repeat in the Hong Kong Sprint in December—he would qualify for a US$1 million bonus.

 

"We didn't know what to expect from these local horses," winning trainer Paul O'Sullivan said of Aerovelocity's quick push to the fore. "Zac Purton is really good at making it up on the run." 

 

Aerovelocity was bred in New Zealand and is owned by Daniel Yeung Ngai.

 

On Friday night, last year's 2-year-old Singapore champion, Affleck, bounced back from a pair of second-place finishes to win the Singapore Guineas with a flourish. 

 

After stalking the pace set by Spanish Bay, Affleck came roaring to the lead and drew off to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Jimmy Rea was up for second while the early leader, Spanish Bay, had to survive an inquiry into an erratic move in deep stretch in order to salvage third.

 

Affleck, a New Zealand-bred gelding by Battle Paint, ran 1,600 meters (about a mile) over the Kranji short course in 1:34.98. Michael Rodd had the mount. 

 

Trainer Laurie Laxon, asked about the strategy for the race, said, "It wouldn't have mattered how it was run. I think he was always going to win the race."

 

Singapore Airlines International Cup:

 

KrisFlyer Sprint: