Beauty Generation Extends Win Streak in Silver Jubilee

Beauty Generation won his seventh straight race and Exultant confirmed his status as a top-level stayer in a big day for jockey Zac Purton Feb. 17 at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Beauty Generation, the world's top-rated miler, scored his sixth group 1 victory with ease as he led from midway down the backstretch, then held safe chief rival Beat The Clock to win the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup by 1 3/4 lengths. Conte finished third in the 1,400-meter (about seven-furlong) test.

Beauty Generation was clocked in 1:21.03 over good turf under a confident ride by Purton. Joao Moreira had the mount on Beat the Clock.

A New Zealand-bred Road to Rock gelding, the 6-year-old Beauty Generation's win streak extends to the Champions Mile (G1) in April and includes the Longines Hong Kong Mile and the Stewards Cup, both top-level heats, in his two previous starts.

"It's just a repeat of what he's been doing all season," trainer John Moore said after the latest demonstration of Beauty Generation's mastery. "Everyone's had a go at beating him. The little bit of hype around a couple of the other horses was fair, but he just keeps doing it."

Moore called Purton "the composite horseman. He knows exactly what's going on."

Purton acknowledged superior tactics but credited Beauty Generation.

"It was easy for him," Purton said. "Joao was always going to pull back and let me go, and I just waited until he did that and rolled on. It was pretty straightforward. It was pretty easy. I just had to drag the sprint out of Beat The Clock, so I just made sure I did that and then the race was over."

"It was such an honest run," Moreira said of Beat The Clock. "He gave his very best but just wasn't able to beat the best horse in Hong Kong."

Hong Kong is not known for developing stayers, but Exultant looks to amend that reputation after a forceful victory in the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (G1), where he held off Dubai-bound Southern Legend in the late going.

Purton also piloted Exultant and, again, tactics played a big part in the outcome.

Headed down the backstretch in the 2,400-meter (about 1 1/2-mile) event, full brothers Time Warp and Glorious Forever were leading the way at a pedestrian clip. Purton, in his words, "bit the bullet and decided to go" and within 200 meters moved from well back to take the lead. Exultant was not seriously threatened thereafter despite the best efforts of Southern Legend, backing up his surprise victory against international competition in December's Longines Hong Kong Vase (G1).

"Zac rode a hell of a race," said Exultant's trainer, Tony Cruz. "I thought Time Warp would go a hell of a pace, but when Zac took off and went past him, I just said, 'Holy mackerel!'"

Cruz said Exultant will now point to the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) at 2,000 meters in April and the Champions & Chater Cup (G1) at 2,400 meters May 26.

Southern Legend will head for Dubai Feb. 28, said trainer Caspar Fownes, and he could not be more thrilled with his charge's chances in the Dubai Turf (G1) on World Cup night.

"The lack of respect he's being shown is a joke," Fownes said of Southern Legend. "But he keeps running really well and did so again today."

In the final feature of a Feb. 17 stakes triple, Mission Tycoon posted a 92-1 upset in the Hong Kong Classic Cup, the middle leg of the 4-Year-Old Classic Series. He won by a length after being allowed to set a slow pace through much of the race.

Winning jockey Derek Leung judged the clip perfectly but later expressed concerns Mission Tycoon might not be up to the 2,000 meters of the series finale, the BMW Hong Kong Derby (G1). If not, winning trainer Frankie Lor also has Dark Dream and Furore, who finished second and fourth, respectively, in the Classic Cup.

"All the horses ran well today," Lor said. "Maybe the pace wasn't fast enough for Dark Dream and Furore, but next time the 2,000 meters will be more suitable for them."

Purton rode Dark Dream. Hugh Bowman, fresh off steering Winx to her 30th straight win the previous day in Australia, piloted Furore.