Japanese sensation Lord Kanaloa was the only horse to strike for the international brigade on Sunday at the Hong Kong International meeting at Sha Tin, which was ruled by Douglas Whyte.
Whyte, Hong Kong’s perennial champion jockey, won the feature Hong Kong Cup on the former European runner Akeed Mofeed, in addition to his success earlier in the night aboard Glorious Days in the Mile.
Whyte has been champion jockey in the special administrative region since 2000, but it was the South African jockey’s first win at the international meeting since Indigenous took the Hong Kong Vase in 1998.
“It’s been a while between drinks, but good things come to those who are patient. I needed a day like today again,” Whyte said.
Whyte last rode in Dubai when he led Ambitious Dragon to seventh in the 2012 Dubai Duty Free, and there is a possibility he could return to Meydan Racecourse in March.
Like Ambitious Dragon, Akeed Mofeed is a Hong Kong Derby winner and the 1,800m of the $US5 million turf race at Meydan would be perfect for the son of Dubawi, Godolphin’s triple Group 1 winner.
“He needed international Group 1 recognition and he’s achieved that today,” trainer Richard Gibson said. “He’s a very talented horse with a stud future ahead of him and racing abroad beckons.”
Lord Kanaloa, ridden by Yusanari Iwata, defended his title in the Hong Kong Sprint by a scarcely believable five lengths, given he was drawn wide in gate 12 and was eased down at the line from Dubai World Cup Carnival regular Sole Power, who is set to return to run in the Carnival next year. Frederick Engels, who was eighth in this year’s Dubai Golden Shaheen, was third.
Red Cadeaux ran well in the defence of his crown in the Vase, in which he was fourth to John Moore’s Dominant, ridden by Zac Purton.
The Dubai World Cup runner-up, who last ran when second in the Melbourne Cup last month, was held up by regular rider Gerald Mosse. The pair came with a late run two furlongs from home and looked to have every chance, but were just run out of it at the finish by fellow European raiders The Fugue, who was second, and Dunaden.
Trainer Ed Dunlop is considering whether to run Red Cadeaux again in the World Cup in March, in preference to a possible tilt at the newly created BMW Championships in Sydney in April.
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