|
|
Donglas
Whyte and Solid Contact take the Group 3 Happy Valley Trophy
by a tight margin |
|
Cruz
plays down Solid sprint claims
Solid Contact lifted the Group 3 Happy
Valley Trophy to put himself in the frame for the Hong Kong
Sprint though trainer Derek Cruz is adopting a wait-and-see
policy should he be invited to Hong Kong racing's biggest
party, the Hong Kong International Races on December 16.
|
The Australian bred seven-year-old by Snippets stalked the
early leaders Lucky Win and Plenty-Plenty on the inside before
delivering his finishing kick on straightening. He stayed
on gamely to the line to repel the late challenges from Prime
Witness and Kenwood Melody. Former Horse of the Year Indigenous
also ran well to grab fourth ahead of a promising debut in
Hong Kong by the ex-German performer, Champ De Union.
The win earned a 5lb rise in the ratings placing Solid Contact
on a mark of 117 and on a par with top sprinters King Of Danes,
Cliffhanger and Kenwood Melody.
"I would be thrilled if he was invited to run in the
Hong Kong Sprint but that's over 1000m and 1000m is a bit
too sharp for him," Cruz said.
"Distances over 1200m and 1400m are much more up his
alley. I don't want to make any guesses at this early stage
- we'll have to play it by ear. The important thing is that
the horse is as good as ever. He's so consistent and he deserved
to win," he added.
|
| THE
HAPPY VALLEY TROPHY (HANDICAP) |
| Ratings 84+ - 1200 Metres |
| Race Class: GROUP-3 |
56k
Broadband
|
|
1
|
8 |
SOLID
CONTACT (P168) |
D Whyte |
121 |
5 |
- |
1.10.00 |
|
2
|
11 |
PRIME
WITNESS (V178) |
D Dunn |
115 |
1 |
HD |
1.10.00 |
|
3
|
5 |
KENWOOD
MELODY (V014) |
W Woods |
125 |
9 |
3/4 |
1.10.10 |
|
4
|
1 |
INDIGENOUS
(P103) |
S Dye |
133 |
7 |
1-1/4 |
1.10.10 |
|
5
|
12 |
CHAMP
DE UNION (B001) |
M W Leung |
106 |
2 |
1-3/4 |
1.10.30 |
|
6
|
4 |
CHARMING
CITY (T182) |
B Marcus |
125 |
3 |
2-3/4 |
1.10.40 |
|
7
|
2 |
ORIENTAL
EXPRESS (P187) |
E Saint-Martin |
128 |
10 |
3-1/4 |
1.10.50 |
|
8
|
7 |
PLENTY-PLENTY
(S191) |
W M Lai |
125 |
11 |
3-3/4 |
1.10.50 |
|
9
|
3 |
CLIFFHANGER
(A235) |
W C Marwing |
126 |
12 |
4-1/4 |
1.10.60 |
|
10
|
9 |
WINNING
COUNTER (A008) |
E Legrix
|
120 |
6 |
4-1/2 |
1.10.70 |
|
11
|
10 |
OUR
CLASS (A086) |
F Coetzee |
114 |
8 |
5-1/4 |
1.10.80 |
|
12
|
6 |
LUCKY WIN (B093) |
J Egan |
125 |
4 |
ML |
|
|
|
|
