Maurice, Chautauqua Victorious in Hong Kong

Japanese miler Maurice and Australian sprint star Chautauqua took top honors at Sha Tin Racecourse May 1 in a rare shutout for the local team in two group I events in Hong Kong.

Kazumi Yoshida's Maurice relaxed just off the pace in the Champions Mile (HK-I) until asked by jockey Joao Moreira inside the 200-meter mark. He quickly accelerated to the lead and was two lengths in front at the finish in 1:34.08. Contentment was second, while longshot Packing Pins finished third.

Maurice, a 5-year-old son of Screen Hero, had not raced since he ventured from Japan to capture the Longines Hong Kong Mile (HK-I) on the same Sha Tin course last December. In the interim, he passed up the Al Quoz Sprint (UAE-I) on World Cup night at Meydan in Dubai. But Moriera, Hong Kong's "Magic Man," said there were never any issues on Sunday.

"When I gave him the daylight, he went on his own," said Moreira, who noted Maurice "could step up in distance."

"The feeling he gave me today, very few horses could give to their jockeys," said Moreira, who has ridden some of Hong Kong's brightest recent stars.

Maurice now owns a seven-race winning streak, the last four of the victories in group I events. Out of the Carnegie mare Majiro Frances, he is trained by Noriyuki Hori.

One race earlier, Chautauqua rolled from last to win the Chairman's Sprint Prize (HK-I) in the final stages and stake a claim as the world's top sprinter. The field included multiple group I winners from around the globe.

Hong Kong-based Lucky Bubbles appeared to have the race won with just under 50 meters to go, only to see Chautauqua ease by on his outside as the wire approached. The margin of victory was a neck, with another length back to Strathmore. Gold-Fun was third.

Winning rider Tommy Berry said he was impressed Chautauqua was able to "take so many lengths off such good sprinters." He timed the move just right behind a withering early pace on a course rated good but not playing to speed.

As the horses pulled up after the race, Berry said a fellow rider said to him, "I don't think I've ever been in a race where they went that hard." The sectional times were :23.34 for the opening quarter-mile and :45.49 for a half-mile; the final time was 1:08.69 for about six furlongs.

Chautauqua won five of his last seven starts in his native Australia, culminating in a victory in the T J Smith Stakes (Aus-I) in April. The May 1 win, the first ever for an Australian in a Hong Kong group I event, likely puts him on the world stage.

"This horse does ridiculous things," winning trainer Michael Hawkes said. "We do have plans in progress. But, the way he's going, he's headed off to Europe and not home."

Chautauqua, a 5-year-old gelding by Encosta de Lago out of the Lion Hunter mare Lovely Jubly, is owned by a syndicate, and many of the members jubilantly crowded into the post-race festivities.

The disappointment of the race was another Australian, Buffering, who won the Al Quoz Sprint in his most recent start. After contesting the early pace, Buffering faded through the stretch and finished last of 14.

The same fate befell the only American runner in the field, Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (gr. IT) winner Mongolian Saturday, who reported home ninth after showing early speed. His owners and supporters enlivened an overcast day at Sha Tin by arriving in the walking ring, as they did at Keeneland before the Breeders' Cup, in colorful native Mongolian costumes.