Exultant cements star stayer status
Tony Cruz-trained champion lands the Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup in style
Hong Kong now has a supreme stayer to go alongside its master miler.
And the manner in which Exultant took control of the Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup over 2,000m at Sha Tin on Sunday left no room for doubt that he is fully entitled to his official billing as Hong Kong's second best horse behind the majestic Beauty Generation, who took the Group 1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup over 1,400m.
The Tony Cruz-trained Exultant entered the arena as the 2.1 favourite a little over half an hour after Beauty Generation's latest show of strength and was bidding to emulate a Hong Kong hero of yesteryear in this HK$10 million (S$1.72 million) contest.
Trainer Ivan Allan's Indigenous had been the last horse to win the 2,400m Hong Kong Vase before stepping down in distance to land the Gold Cup but Exultant replicated his achievement, thanks to a dashing ride from Zac Purton and his own deep reserves of stamina.
Purton has few peers when it comes to judging pace and, in his own words, he "bit the bullet and decided to go" when Vincent Ho slowed the pace aboard last year's Gold Cup hero Time Warp near the halfway mark.
Exultant quickened from a distant eighth to a freewheeling first in little over 200m, as Purton asked him to sustain a long run for home soon after. The five-year-old galloped on relentlessly to pass the post 11/2 lengths clear of the running-on 56-1 shot Southern Legend, as the pair drew clear of Dinozzo and Simply Brilliant.
Longines Hong Kong Cup hero Glorious Forever had every chance in fifth, but Exultant's unpredictable Group 1-winning stablemates Pakistan Star and Time Warp looked shadows of their former selves in occupying the last two places.
Purton reflected on his fifth Group 1 success of the season in typically matter-of-fact fashion.
"They were just going too slow," he said. "But I knew my horse was the best stayer in the race and I knew he'd keep going - he just doesn't seem to get tired.
"He's got a lot stronger since this time last year and as a result he's just furnished into a better horse. We know what we've got now so I can use him and ride him accordingly."
Cruz was winning the Gold Cup for the sixth time as a trainer but was taken aback by the way the race developed.
"Zac rode a hell of a race," he said. "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 it was "back to the drawing board" for Pakistan Star and Time Warp. But he is clear about Exultant's next targets, namely the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup over 2,000m on April 28 and the Group 1 Champions & Chater Cup over 2,400m on May 26.
"The programme is limited - maybe two or three races - but we'll go for the QEII," he added. "I've got to give Exultant a bit of time, as he's been kind of a weak horse. We won't be going to Dubai with him this year but maybe next year we'll have to go elsewhere as there isn't anywhere to run in March."
Trainer Caspar Fownes is certainly looking forward to next month with Southern Legend.
The Singapore Group 1 Kranji Mile winner has now finished placed in three Group 1 contests this season and remains on course to meet superstar Japanese filly Almond Eye in the Group 1 Dubai Turf over 1,800m at Meydan on March 30.
"The lack of respect he's being shown is a joke but he keeps running really well and did so again today," said Fownes.
"Southern Legend will leave for Dubai on February 28 and I'll go down in early March and then have a look at him to decide whether he has a run beforehand or goes straight for the big one on Dubai World Cup night." - HKJC
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