Ryan Moore seals a third LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship with victory on Triumphant More, courtesy of HKJC
Tom Peacock
Ryan Moore provided a timely reminder of his status as a world leader with an outstanding performance to claim a third LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) in a thrilling race that remained wide open until its conclusion at Happy Valley on Wednesday evening (December 10).
With four riders heading into the final of the four rounds with 12 points under a scoring format of 12 points for a win, six points for second and four points for third, it was exactly the kind of competitive event the evening was designed for.
Hugh Bowman, Moore and William Buick each already had a winner, while Zac Purton’s two second-place finishes kept him in the hunt. Others lay in wait with the potential to take the final prize with a victory in the final stage over 1200 metres.
Moore saved the best for last on the aptly named Triumphant More (130 pounds) in the 4th leg, who was closer to last than first heading home but powered his way through the field to score by three-quarters of a length from Umberto Rispoli and Tourbillon Golfer (121 pounds).
Moore, previously a LONGINES IJC winner in 2009 and 2010 and a four-time winner of the LONGINES World’s Best Jockey award, has been sidelined since late August with a stress fracture in his femur and only returned to racing last week.
“I’m lucky to have been coming back here for so many years and it’s been a long time since I last won it,” said Moore, who won the second stage over 1650 meters ahead of Caspar Fownes over leader Corleone (134 pounds).
“It’s fortunate that I had two really good rides today and it worked out well for me. I’m just grateful to come back here and that I was lucky tonight.”
Buick, who finished second with Bowman and both jockeys earned HK$200,000, was delighted to reach a milestone in the first 1000m leg.
His horse Bunta Baby (123lb) was without a win in 11 previous starts in Hong Kong despite showing potential to get off the line, especially with a fast-finishing second on the course and distance last time.
Manfred Man’s attack came up with a late challenge, passing Purton and Beauty Thunder (126lbs) short of the line.
“It’s my first winner at Happy Valley, so I’m very happy to have achieved this,” said Buick.
“He came back from a good run last time and was one of my better chances of the night, so it’s great to get it done.”
Bowman had not achieved much on his first two stages, but took second place on the third stage over 1650 metres. His horse, the David Eustace-trained Silvery Breeze (131lb), had to wait for an opening in the straight but picked up style to get past Purton and Flying Fortress (134lb).
“It was actually very important to the way things went,” Bowman said. “He was knocking on the door, his recent form has been very consistent and he got the lineup that suited him tonight.”
Fownes won the LONGINES IJC trainer’s bonus with 16 points on count-out from Cody Mo. Fownes earned HK$300,000 for the win, while Mo received HK$125,000, while the third prize of HK$75,000 was shared by Eustace, Lor and Man, who all scored 12 points.
Four-time Hong Kong champion jockey Joao Moreira knows the Happy Valley corners better than anyone and was touched by the crowd’s reception when he claimed the first two races on the undercard ahead of the Fownes-trained Family Fortune (123lb) in the Class 5 Ventris Handicap (1650m) and Lucky Generations (118lb) in the Class 5 Morrison Hill Handicap (1200m).
“Even before the race, before I got on the horse, people started cheering and all the hard work I did here in Hong Kong is still appreciated by many people and that means a lot to me,” he said. “Everything I put into it was worth it.”
Trainers Francis Lui, Danny Shum and Michael Chang all posted winners on the undercard, along with jockeys Luke Ferraris, Keith Yeung and Bowman.
Racing in Hong Kong continues on Sunday (December 14) in Sha Tin with the HK$130 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races.
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