AEROVELOCITY dominates KrisFlyer International Sprint

17/05/2015

AEROVELOCITY spear-headed another night of glory in Singapore (Sunday, 17 May) with a brilliant front-running performance that razed his eight rivals in the Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint at Kranji.

The six-year-old’s success was the third in a row for a Hong Kong-trained horse following the back-to-back wins of LUCKY NINE in 2013 and 2014. LUCKY NINE finished third this time after enduring a choppy, buffeting journey through the 1200m contest.

AEROVELOCITY’s win was his third in the highest grade this term following G1 triumphs in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (December) and Takamatsunomiya Kinen (March) in Japan. Zac Purton was in the plate for each.

“He’s been a special horse,” said the Australian rider. “You don’t ride too many horses of the calibre of this guy. He just gives 100 per cent every time he races, even in defeat. He tries his guts out – he’s the most courageous horse I’ve ever ridden.”

Paul O’Sullivan’s stable star exhibited a heavy dose of that courage, mixed with a draught of latent excellence, as he led from the off and held at bay the challenge of Singaporean runner-up Emperor Max to register a length and a half verdict in a time of 1m 09.05s. 

“I sort of had to do a little bit of work early just to go forward and get the lead,” said Purton, who had exited smartly from gate three. “He didn’t have it all his own way in front – he got softened up a bit coming to the corner but he had a massive class advantage on these horses and I knew I could just cuddle him and give him a little bit of a chance.”

Purton allowed the pack to close in on AEROVELOCITY as the field hurtled down the home stretch, but, just as his pursuers got to within touching distance, the rider gathered his mount and kicked on.

“Because he’s so courageous, I know that when something comes and I ask him for an effort he’s going to fight, so I was just waiting for something, gave him a bit of a squeeze and he sprinted to the line,” said Hong Kong’s Champion Jockey.

“Paul’s done a great job handling the horse and all credit has to go to him and his stable. He’s an exceptional horseman.”

O’Sullivan was thrilled with the win, although the New Zealander admitted that relief was the emotion most prevalent.

“The expectation was so high tonight, so it was more relief than ecstasy,” he said. “That was a good tough one. Zac said he was kidding them – he just let them get up to him because he likes a fight and he said that when he said ‘go’ he hit top gear. It was a great result.”

AEROVELOCITY made history as the first Hong Kong horse to win three G1 races in three different countries/jurisdictions.

“Any horse that can win three Group 1 races in three different countries has got to be rated very highly in Hong Kong at the end of the season,” said O’Sullivan. “He probably isn’t a super star but he’s the ultimate racehorse – he’s tough. I’m not saying he should be Horse of the Year but when was the last time a horse from Hong Kong won three international Group 1 races in three different countries?”

O’Sullivan dismissed any notion that AEROVELOCITY might go to Europe or Australia as he chases the Global Sprint Challenge bonus, awarded to any horse that can win three designated G1 sprints in three different countries/jurisdictions within a calendar year.

“No chance – we’ll keep him in Asia,” was O’Sullivan’s response. “I wouldn’t rule out the Sprinters Stakes but we’ve got to sit down and talk about it. The Sprinters Stakes doesn’t count for the bonus so I’m sure we’ll focus on the Hong Kong Sprint in December, but I don’t want to preempt, I’ll have to sit down with the owners and talk about it.”

LUCKY NINE met trouble in running and was shunted back to the tail after breaking upsides the winner from gate two.

“I absolutely got hammered!” said jockey Brett Prebble after he had guided the race’s dual winner to a respectable third, two and a quarter lengths back.

Trainer Caspar Fownes was frustrated with the outcome but was equally full of praise for his veteran sprinter.

“He’s run a bottler of a race,” said Fownes. “He’s jumped and been in the spot where I want him and then he’s suddenly back last. He got pole-axed and then he’s gone and run third – I want to go and look at the replay but it looked like he got hammered twice.”

Rich Tapestry, Hong Kong’s third contender, ran a big race after meeting trouble early and being forced to sit wide in the run under Olivier Doleuze. The Michael Chang-trained seven-year-old kept on gamely to finish fifth, less than four lengths behind AEROVELOCITY.

“He showed less gate speed than we were hoping. His race was over when he got knocked over and Olivier was forced to pull out wide and cover ground. He was game and we’re really proud of him,” said Chang.