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 Bullish Luck and jockey Felix Coetzee winning the CSL Hong Kong Gold Cup. |
A stunning season for trainer Tony Cruz and jockey Felix Coetzee continued Sunday at Sha Tin as Bullish Luck stormed through late to snatch the HK$8 million (about US$1,029,000) Group 1 CSL Hong Kong Gold Cup.
The 20-1 outsider swooped from last off the home turn to head the 1-2 favorite Elegant Fashion in the dying strides and win by half a length, in a time of 2:02.30 for the 2000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) over a good-to-firm course. Elegant Fashion hit the front with just over a furlong to race, but the mare, last year's Hong Kong Derby winner, had no answer to Bullish Luck's barnstorming run.
Winning jockey Felix Coetzee said, "He kicked very hard for me. I wasn't sure if I was going to catch Elegant Fashion because she is so tough, but he got there in the end. Great performance,". It was the fourth Group 1 of the season for jockey and trainer. Trainer Tony Cruz said Bullish Luck would start next in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup on April 25.
 Bullish Luck and jockey Felix Coetzee head to the winner's circle after the CSL Hong Kong Gold Cup. |
"He loves that style of racing, coming from off the pace. We knew he had lots of ability this horse from the day when he finished second to a head [Hong Kong Mile champion] Lucky Owners and they ran a time of 1:34 seconds for the [mile]." said Cruz. "We had the option of tackling last week's Hong Kong Macau Trophy but we felt that he had a chance in the Gold Cup so we decided to try it," Cruz added.
Trainer David Hayes of runner-up Elegant Fashion, said, "She ran her usual honest race,". Hayes said he would not be sending Elegant Fashion for next month's Dubai World Cup carnival and concentrate instead on the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup, in which she finished second last year.
Photos courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club
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