HK Trio’s Yasuda Kinen Bid Unsuccessful

The Hong Kong trio of Beauty Flash, Sight Winner and Fellowship failed to provide a tough competition to the local horses at the Group 1 Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo despite the favorable pre-race betting advantages. The three horses were not able to get even a podium finish during the said race which is the last leg of the Asian Mile Challenge.

With jockey Craig Williams on hand, the John Size-trained Sight Winner is the outsider of the trio but it was the one who fared the best among the three. From the midfield, he finished in fifth position which is a length and a half away from winner Showa Modern. Sight Winner improved his sixth place finish in the 2009 edition of this race by one spot.

Meanwhile, Beauty Flash and Fellowship finished eleventh and ninth respectively.

Williams said that he was surprised that his horse is far back from his usual racing pattern wherein he pushed Sight Winner to run at his normal speed but to no avail. Williams also added that his horse ran a generous and mild race but it showed great character by fighting for position at the home stretch.

Despite the non-win, Williams is not disappointed with Sight Winner’s performance given that he was racing on foreign turf. However, he pointed out that not having a protective shoe on the horse’s sore frog could have brought an uneasy feeling to the race horse.

With winner Showa Modern finishing 0.3 seconds off the course record, the 2010 Yasuda Kinen was ran at the fast pace. Because of which, Beauty Flash’s camp of jockey Felix Coetzee and trainer Tony Cruz are not giving any excuses to their horse’s lackluster performance.

Cruz said that Coetzee informed him after the race that he was able to grab the position behind the pace which was their target spot before Beauty Flash would make a surge. However, their horse just did not have enough for the race and that his race form is not strong enough to compete for the Yasuda Kinen. Because of this, the camp of Beauty Flash is having second thoughts of having him race again overseas.

Meanwhile, the worst fears of Fellowship trainer Paul O’ Sullivan were realized and jockey Zac Purton said that the horse had a slim chance of winning the race when he went into the starting gates. O’ Sullivan and Purton were working their horse before the race but he was not bringing it. Despite this, they remained optimistic for the negativity might add to Fellowship’s woes.

O’Sullivan added that Fellowship walking around for a long time before the race is a matter of concern and Purton informed him that the horse broke down at the starting gates though it was acting normal in the paddock parade. Nevertheless, Purton tried to push Fellowship in the midfield but his gelding race horse just did not have the racing instinct that day.

Related posts:

1. Hong Kong Trio to Compete in Yasuda Kinen