\n\t\t\t\t\tBy Leo Schlink\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Listen<\/p>\n
David Hayes is hopeful Tomodachi Kokoroe (Written Tycoon) can complete a remarkable journey by gaining a start in the Hong Kong Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m) in December after the evergreen galloper clinched the Class 2 Shing Mun Handicap (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Imported to Hong Kong as a 64-rater as the winner of six races in a row in Australia as Bank Bank Bank, Tomodachi Kokoroe slotted his sixth Hong Kong win from 33 starts and took his prize-money to beyond HK$13 million (approx. AU$2.55 million) with his latest success under Harry Bentley.<\/p>\n
The Written Tycoon (Iglesia) gelding will be aimed at two key lead-up races to the Hong Kong Sprint on December 14 \u2013 the Premier Bowl Handicap (Gr 2, 1200m) on October 26 and the Jockey Club Sprint (Gr 2, 1200m) on November 23.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not bad when they carry the grandstand and go via the Cape,\u201d Hayes said, referencing Tomodachi Kokoroe\u2019s feat to overcome a wide run and win. \u201cThat was a very good win and he\u2019ll go into the lead-up races to the Hong Kong Sprint.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now seven, Tomodachi Kokoroe has returned for his fourth Hong Kong season in sparkling form, notching successive victories under Bentley, whose five wins this campaign include a remarkable four triumphs in Class 2.<\/p>\n
Despite rising ten pounds in the handicap and jumping from barrier 11, the former Australian galloper edged out Lady\u2019s Choice (Charm Spirit) by a neck with Baby Crystal (Per Incanto) third in 1m 08.33s.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great performance. He [Tomodachi Kokoroe] had to raise his game, obviously, with the ten-pound hike,\u201d Bentley said. \u201cHe jumped really well and I was following Baby Crystal across and I thought I was going to be in the one back, one off position, but then I think it was Lady\u2019s Choice hanging out, so it didn\u2019t make my life too easy with that and I had to go a little bit wider than ideal.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut credit to the horse, he really dug deep and stuck his head out in that last 100 metres. Great training performance and the horse is trying extremely hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fresh from a treble last Wednesday night at Happy Valley, Tony Cruz\u2019s stable continued its hot run of form with a double, both under the guidance of Angus Chung.<\/p>\n
He Was You (Rich Enuff) claimed the Class 5 Chai Wan Kok Handicap (1200m) before Good Luck Babe (Delago Deluxe) landed the Class 4 Sha Tsui Handicap (1400m), propelling Cruz to nine wins for the season and fourth place overall behind Mark Newnham (11), Caspar Fownes (nine) and Hayes (nine), who both have more minor placings than Cruz.<\/p>\n
Fownes enhanced hopes of a fifth trainers\u2019 championship with a brace after the win of Sky Heart (Ardrossan) for Ellis Wong in the Class 3 Yau Kom Tau Handicap (1400m) and the runaway triumph of Daily Trophy (Tarzino) under Lyle Hewitson in the Class 4 Lo Wai Handicap (1200m, dirt).<\/p>\n
\u201cI think once the rain came and the track was sealed that he [Daily Trophy] tends to like this particular surface better than the normal dirt. He won on a similar surface last season from the back with Harry Bentley. It was good,\u201d Fownes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLyle [Hewitson] did a good job \u2013 I\u2019m happy for him to get a winner for us. He\u2019s been working hard and the horse has done well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hewitson produced an even better ride on Newnham\u2019s Bull Attitude (The Autumn Sun) in the Class 4 Sham Tseng Handicap (1600m), saving ground from barrier two and waiting for a late split to deny Happy Universe (Zacinto).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a good draw today, so we could hold him up and save ground \u2013 it was perfect,\u201d Newnham said. \u201cInside the last furlong, he was strong. It was great to get a win with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zac Purton extended his lead in the jockeys\u2019 championship to 11 over Hugh Bowman with a double, prevailing aboard Chris So\u2019s Oldtown (Territories) in the Class 4 Yan Chai Trophy Handicap (1200m) and David Hall\u2019s Mr Energia (Swiss Ace) in the Class 3 Shek Wai Kok Handicap (1200m, dirt).<\/p>\n
Eight-time champion Purton has 18 wins for the campaign.<\/p>\n
Preparing to partner Meydaan (Frankel) in the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) in Melbourne on Saturday, Andrea Atzeni struck aboard Jamie Richards-trained Jubilant Winner (Capitalist) in the first section of the Class 4 Kwok Shui Handicap (1200m).<\/p>\n
The Italian, who rode Giavellotto (Mastercraftsman) into fourth place in the Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) in Paris on October 5, said: \u201cIt\u2019s brilliant to be able to travel and it\u2019s great that the Club allows us to do it, obviously without missing races here, and to ride in the Arc last week and the Caulfield Cup this weekend is absolutely brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Danny Shum-trained Matters Most (Advertise) earned a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million (approx. AU$294,240) when the four-year-old snared the Class 3 Chinese Recreation Club Challenge Cup Handicap (1200m) under a smart ride by Wong to commence the apprentice\u2019s afternoon double.<\/p>\n
Formerly trained by Ralph Beckett, the Advertise (Showcasing) gelding won two races in the United Kingdom before export to Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong racing continues on Wednesday night at Happy Valley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Leo Schlink Listen David Hayes is hopeful Tomodachi Kokoroe (Written Tycoon) can complete a remarkable journey by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-195434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}