Races > Hong Kong Sprint

Hong Kong Sprint (G2) - WRAP UP

Falvelon, the Australian flying machine, landed a second successive Hong Kong Sprint by a short head from the American-trained Morluc in an exact replica of the HK$8million dash one year ago.

Falvelon hit the front 100m out from fellow Australian Century Kid a little over 100m out and repelled the sustained challenge out wide from Morluc.
There was just a bob of the heads in it at the line.

Hong Kong's All Thrills Too stayed on strongly to grab third place just a head of the principals with Century Kid back in fourth in the climax to the richest 1000m race in the world.

Post-race quotes:
1: Danny Bougoure (trainer, Falvelon): 'It's fantastic to win the race again. You can never to be too confident in a race like this but we had the horse fit and well and he did it again. We planned for this 12 months ago and maybe we could come back again next year if he's still fit and healthy,'

Damien Oliver (jockey, Falvelon): 'Gee, they went too fast early. He was much further off the pace than I expected early - some six or seven lengths off them. I then just rolled into the race tacking on to Morluc. It's great that he could defend the title. A touch of deja vu in that he just touched off Morluc - that is what happened last year. It's not impossible that we could come back again. He loves this place (Sha Tin) and so do I.'

2: Michael B. Cloonan (owner, Morluc): "The post position hurt us. It was a tough defeat, but that's horse racing. The margin of difference was a head-bob. A bob before the finish, he was in front. Give credit to Falvelon, he's a great racehorse. It's an honour to run here; I'd come to Sha Tin again in a heartbeat."

Robbie Albarado (jockey, Morluc): "It's deja vu. Morluc did everything right but Falvelon is a great horse and he just held us off."

3: Shane Dye (jockey, All Thrills Too): "He gave me everything and he has improved a great deal since his last run. We have to be proud of that effort today considering the horses that finished just ahead of him."

4: Jimmy Cassidy (jockey, Century Kid): "I thought we might have had it about 200m from the post but he just couldn't hold them off inside the last 100m. But it was a terrific run."

5: Kevin Darley (jockey, The Trader): "He has run a great race and I might have finished a couple of lengths closer. We were squeezed up a bit on the rail at a crucial stage."

5: Michael Blanshard (trainer of The Trader): "That was great, he has run very, very well. Kevin said could have finished a couple of lengths closer. I would love to come and try again."

6: Johnny Murtagh (jockey, Nice One Clare): "Another furlong and she would have been on top of them. I had to start work on her sooner but she was flying home at the finish."

Pip Payne (trainer, Nice One Clare): "That was brilliant. She was proved she is capable at the highest level. I am so thrilled. It has been a wonderful experience being here."

8: Wendyll Woods (jockey, Kenwood Melody): "He has run right up to his mark and he's turned the form around with Solid Contact. That's him. We can't ask for any more than that."

9: Gary Stevens (jockey, Nuclear Debate): "That was moderate. The ground was a bit hard for him."

10: John Egan (jockey, Cliffhanger): "He couldn't dictate early on as he would have liked. He started looking around a bit at the company around him and when he changed leads about 300m I knew we were in trouble."

About Hong Kong Sprint (G2) 2001

HK$8 million (approx. US$1,025,000)
1000m /5f /turf /3yo+

The Hong Kong Sprint was added to the Hong Kong International Races roster in 1999 and the inaugural running, a Listed race, and even then richest 1000m dash in the world, was won by Fairy King Prawn at 13.0 - Sha Tin hasn't seen a price for the dual Horse of the Year like that since then. The International Cataloguing Standards Committee upgraded the Sprint to Group 3 status last year when Falvelon emerged triumphant for Australia and now the race stands as a Group 2. Prize money has also been increased to HK$8 million.

World's Richest Open 1000m Sprint

Prize Money Place Prize (HK$) Prize (US$) 1st 4,500,000 (approx. 600,000) 2nd 1,800,000 (approx. 230,000) 3rd 800,000 (approx. 100,000) 4th 450,000 (approx. 60,000) 5th 300,000 (approx. 40,000) 6th 150,000 (approx. 20,000) HK$8 million plus trophies for the winning owner, trainer and jockey is divided as above.

Weights Northern Hemisphere Horse Description Southern Hemisphere kgs lbs   lbs kgs 57 126 4yo+ c., h. & g. 126 57 55.75 123 4yo+ f. & m. 123 55.75 57 126 3yo c.& g. 120 54.5 55.75 123 3yo f. 117 53 (c - colt; f - filly; g - gelding; h - horse; m - mare)