Vincent Ho Chak-yiu lit up an otherwise dreary day at Sha Tin on Sunday, piloting Straight Arron to victory in the Group Three Queen Mother Memorial Cup (2,400m) to cap a superb four-timer.
On a day that featured Hong Kong’s first soft track in almost eight years and saw the fourth race pushed back 35 minutes as officials waited for some hairy weather to pass, Ho continued his career-best season with a haul that took him to 72 victories for the campaign.
“All the [winning] horses today handled the wet and it was lucky they handled the wet. It really depended on how they handled the track today,” said Ho, who surpassed his previous best haul of 67 wins with Golden Sixty’s victory in last Sunday’s Group One Champions Mile.
After earlier successes aboard Young Horizon, Master Of Fortune and All Is Good, Ho lifted Straight Arron to a neck victory over fellow Classic Series graduate Sword Point.
Straight Arron travelled midfield early after eventual runner-up Sword Point and Beautyverse injected some pace into the contest. He was allowed to improve his position down the back straight as the tempo slackened and then battled his way to the front down the home straight.
“Straight Arron is a nice horse and he got a nice position up there. It was just about the stamina today with the track like this and whoever handled the track in running. It was a tough run with him, but the light weight helped,” Ho said.
While Ho was already dreaming of December’s Hong Kong International Races after Straight Arron’s win, trainer Caspar Fownes confirmed there is no guarantee the four-year-old – who won on a heavy surface in Australia pre-import – will push onto the Group One Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) on May 28.
“That was good. He toughed it out. It was a hard effort for him. There was no pace and he just trucked up there nicely and all you can do is get a winning result,” Fownes said.
“Conditions were quite tough today, and he’s jumped from 1,800m to 2,400m – it’s a big step up in a short period of time. We’re proud of him. He’s going the right way.
“We’ll see [about the Champions & Chater Cup]. His rating’s not there yet, but he’s a good horse. His true rating is still not there, but we’ll see how he pulls up.
“We’ll make an entry. I wouldn’t think it’s going to be too big a field – probably about six or seven runners – so we’ll just see. He’s done his job already, and I’m looking forward to next season.”
One horse definitely headed towards the Champions & Chater Cup is Fownes’ Columbus County, who finished fourth, while 11th placegetter Senor Toba is likely to be put away for the season after a taxing campaign.
“Columbus County has run a super race. He jumped really well, and he was probably in a position he’s never been in – he was up there,” Fownes said.
“He’s given quite a bit of cheek and just tired probably just the last 100m. He’ll definitely be going for the race in three weeks because his fitness is starting to really come.
“It looks like back to the drawing board with [Senor Toba]. He performed well four starts ago, and since then it’s just been a little bit of a nightmare. We’ll scope him to see how he is – that’s the number one thing – and he’s probably just after a nice freshen up and look forward to next season.”
Reigning Champions & Chater Cup champion Russian Emperor finished sixth, with Natural Storm and Five G Patch also beating him home.
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