Japan miss out at Hong Kong International Races, settling for silver from Bellagio Opera, Soul Rush

Bellagio Opera (right)

Soul Rush (right)

The JRA was denied victory at the Longines Hong Kong International Races for the third straight year as seven Japanese horses came up short in their bid to end the dryspell at Sha Tin on Sunday (Dec. 14).

While they came close, with a pair of second-place finishes from Bellagio Opera in the Hong Kong Cup and Soul Rush in the Hong Kong Mile, it was not meant to be once again for the JRA’s challengers.

Satono Reve and Win Carnelian were ninth and 11th, respectively, in the Hong Kong Sprint.

Urban Chic, the lone representation from Japan in the Hong Kong Vase trained by Ryo Takei, was 10th out of 11.

Also in the Hong Kong Cup, the signature race of the four Group 1s on the afternoon, was the Hiroyasu Tanaka-trained Rousham Park at a distant fifth among a field of seven. Embroidery, from the Kazutomo Mori stable, was 11th out of 14 in the Hong Kong Mile.

Bellagio Opera crossed the finish line almost two lengths behind Romantic Warrior, the big-time first choice who powered to an unprecedented fourth successive win.

The 7-year-old Hong Kong superstar covered the 2,000 meters in 2 minutes, 2.29 seconds. The Christophe Lemaire-ridden Rousham Park finished almost six lengths out of first place.

Bellagio Opera’s trainer Hiroyuki Uemura thought his 5-year-old - competing overseas for his first time - had every chance of pulling off the upset of upsets but in the end, the Chap Shing Shum-trained Romantic Warrior under James McDonald proved to be too much.

“He got off to a slow start but had the kick to get back into position right away and from there, he was his usual self,” Uemura looked back on the race.

“We felt Romantic Warrior was the only one to beat and that if we stayed right behind, we would find a way. He fought hard until the end but the opposition was too good.

“It was his first race abroad but I thought he handled the travel, all the change in scenery very well. I’ll be honest, we came here expecting to win so this is not easy to accept. But credit Romantic Warrior - he was tough and deserved to win.”

Jockey Kazuo Yokoyama echoed the sentiments of his trainer, crediting his mount for the effort.
“The trainer had him in tip-top shape,” Yokoyama said. “He could not have been in better condition. He broke well and I had a few ideas for the race in my head, but the trip itself turned out OK.

“The result isn’t what we had hoped for but Bellagio Opera showed heart. I thought we had a shot against Romantic Warrior but he was too good. My horse ran his heart out to the finish and that’s all I can ask for. I tip my hat off to him, especially considering he was in completely new surroundings.

“For sure, we were up against a truly brilliant horse but I wanted to win, if I’m being honest. I hope people continue to support Bellagio Opera because he ran a fantastic race in his own right.”

Equally jaw-dropping was Ka Ying Rising in the Hong Kong Sprint, the gelding extending his winning streak to 16 with an incredible three-and-three-quarter length victory over Raging Blizzard.

The Noriyuki Hori-trained Satono Reve’s jockey Ryan Moore was left shaking his head after the David Hayes-trained winner, ridden by Zac Purton, snatched his sixth G1 title and moved within one of tying the Hong Kong record win streak held by Silent Witness.

“He was very calm before the race,” Moore said. “I felt like he was in good condition but the pace picked up so fast after the start he lost a lot of horse early on.

“He ran his heart out to the end but because of the pace, he just could not finish the way he usually does. The horse that won is incredibly strong.”

The Win Carnelian team tried to rework the magic from the Sprinters Stakes in September but came up badly short after trying to keep up with an all-time great in Ka Ying Rising.

“He didn’t have the start he had in the Sprinters Stakes,” jockey Kosei Miura said. “He was made to wait in his stall so all things considered it was not a bad jump out of the gate.

“But once we were off, Ka Ying Rising was so fast I was just praying we could keep up. Going into the next-to-last turn he felt good - though not as good as he was when he won (the Sprinters Stakes) - and we tried to stay with Ka Ying Rising, which may have been a mistake in hindsight after the way he struggled towards the end.”

Miura, as well as trainer Yuichi Shikato, said there is very little margin for error when trying to withstand such a test like Ka Ying Rising.

“First and foremost we are glad he came home in one piece,” Miura said. “But the trainer and I agreed that to stand toe to toe against the best sprinters in the world, we have to do better.

“It’s not easy to succeed overseas and for me personally, it turned out to be a terrific experience having the opportunity to spend a full week with Win Carnelian. But above all, it’s extremely frustrating to not be able to come away with the result we were hoping for. I feel badly for everyone who supported us back in Japan.”

Added Shikato, “The winner took off so our positioning wasn’t bad but the turf looked a bit heavy and it turned out to be a tough race for us. What I took away from this race is that to stand a chance against the best in the world, you have to be at 100 percent - in every way possible.”

Soul Rush failed to put a period on his career with victory, finishing runner-up to the Purton-ridden Voyage Bubble for the second straight year.

Cristian Demuro had the Dubai Turf champion in front with less than 200m to go but succumbed to the home crowd favorite by half a length, much to the disappointment of trainer Yasutoshi Ikee who admitted his 7-year-old does not respond like he used to when he won the Mile Championship last year.

“I don’t know if it’s age or what but he’s become increasingly stubborn. The jockey had to really work to get the position he had,” Ikee said. “When the race quickened, he became even more stubborn.

“For a second on the straight, I thought he was hitting his full stride but then he lost his focus - almost to a point where it looked like he was going to stop. The jockey said he responded when Voyage Bubble came on but then he almost slammed the brakes. So when he came home, he did not look like a horse who had left everything out there.

“I really had hoped we could send him off with a win but I’m just sorry for all the fans; we could not come through for them.”

Demuro gave the horse, who will head to stud duty next year, one final pat on the back for a stellar career that saw him stun Romantic Warrior in the Dubai Turf this past spring.

“Soul Rush is a fantastic racehorse and it’s nothing short of disappointing that he could not win his last race. He’s tough, and was competitive all the way to the end. I thought we had it for a moment there, but the winner was too strong.”

Official Results: Cup, Mile, Sprint, Vase

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