From Class 5 to Group 3, odyssey ends in triumph for International Sale graduate Supreme Profit

05/02/2017

By Andrew Hawkins

When Hong Kong International Sale Executive Manager Mark Richards first spotted Supreme Profit as a youngster at the 2012 Magic Millions Yearling Sale on Australia’s Gold Coast, he was “taken”; he knew he had to purchase the son of Encosta De Lago for the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s owners. It was a decision that, after many forks in the road, paid handsomely as Danny Shum-trained Supreme Profit held off eight rivals to win his first stakes race, the G3 Centenary Vase Handicap (1800m), at Sha Tin on Sunday (5 February).

“That’s sensational!” a beaming Richards remarked after Supreme Profit (115lb) staved off John Moore-trained Basic Trilogy (118lb) and Tony Cruz’s Romantic Touch (128lb) to win the Centenary Vase Handicap, run for the first time as an international Group 3 this season, by a length. “I was involved in buying Pleasure Gains with Mark Player, we were both in Deauville then, and he went on to win the January Cup, but this is the first on my own, and I’m chuffed.”

Richards paid A$320,000 for the son of Encosta De Lago out of Sun Song, a three-quarter sister to 2000 Hong Kong Mile winner Sunline, in January 2012. The horse arrived at Sha Tin in late 2012, going through the first session of the then twice-yearly Hong Kong International Sale in the 2012/13 season.

“I still remember buying him – he was just a real big, backward horse that was always going to need time, but I was taken by him,” Richards said. “You can still see it now, he’s got a huge constitution to him, he always carries a fair amount of condition but he’s also got his heart in the right place.”

Going through the ring as Lot 1 in the December 2012 Hong Kong International Sale, the bay was knocked down to Shum’s long-term client William Yem for HK$3.3 million. But even after the horse joined the Shum yard, it was an uphill battle to get him to the races.

“Full credit to Danny, it’s been quite some training performance,” said Richards. “Within four weeks of him being sold here in 2012, he had an operation on a twisted gut, and horses sometimes don’t come back from that. This horse did though, and now he seems to thrive on racing.”

Shum continued: “He suffered a setback right after he was purchased from the Hong Kong International Sale and he was very nearly retired. As a result of that operation, we had to wait for more than a year before he made his Hong Kong debut (in January 2014), and at that time he was very fat and carrying a lot of condition. He showed talent but he took a long time to come right, and he won his first race in Class 5 here! But since then, he has kept on improving and now he is a very happy horse.”

That Class 5 win came at his eighth start off a rating of 39 in October 2014, and since then the six-year-old has won nine of his 36 starts and accrued prizemoney of nearly HK$8 million.

Sunday’s feature was the gelding’s first attempt at a Pattern race, having only graduated into Class 2 at the end of last season. And early on in the 1800m affair, settling sixth of the nine runners and unable to match the early speed, the lightly-weighted runner looked in an awkward position as early lamplighters Helene Super Star and Romantic Touch set moderate fractions out in front.

The first 600m was run in 37.1s, three-quarters of a second slower than standard, and jockey Chad Schofield saw no signs that the pace was about to quicken mid-race. With the 1000 metres in sight and the pace slackening further, the 22-year-old made what ultimately proved the decisive move – he whipped around the field and took up the running, allowing his mount to stride along out in front.

“When the pace was so slow, it just didn’t suit me at all.” Schofield said. “I was three pairs back and it was going to be a sit and sprint which he wouldn’t have enjoyed, so I let him stride with the light weight and stride he did.

“I know he stays so well, he obviously won over 2000m before, so I knew he would have stayed all day. I kept him rolling the whole way, from the 1000m pretty much, and with the light weight they couldn’t pick him up. If the race had been another 200 metres I still think he wins, so it was a really strong effort.”

Shum said it had not been a pre-conceived idea to take off early, but that it could have been inspired by Supreme Profit’s victory under apprentice Kei Chiong in Class 3 in May.

“It was solely Chad’s decision,” he said. “I just told him before the race to study the race videos of the horse’s past wins, as we thought the horse would be competitive in this race. Probably, he would have seen how Kei Chiong won on the horse last season because in that race, Kei also made an early move mid-race.

The trainer, who landed his first Group victory since Little Bridge won the G1 King’s Stand Stakes (1000m) at Royal Ascot in June 2012, said that Supreme Profit’s progress this season had surprised even him.

“If you asked me early this season what I would have expected from this horse, I would have said he could win one race,” Shum said. “But today, he has scored win three, so it was a bit of a surprise to me. Mark was obviously right, he just needed time to mature.”

Favourite Helene Charisma disappointed with his four and a half length seventh under Joao Moreira, with trainer John Moore admitting that he could find few excuses for the G1 Grand Prix de Paris (2400m) winner.

“Perhaps all I could put it down to would be that it was just his second run in Hong Kong, but I was hoping for more and expecting more,” Moore admitted post-race. “Joao said he settled into a nice rhythm once the pace went on but that he just didn’t let down, he also was a bit green in the straight so there are a few things we need to work on. So it’s back to the drawing board now, but we still haven’t given up hope that he will be a Hong Kong Derby contender. He will run on the same day as the Hong Kong Classic Cup in a 2000m Class 2, with Booming Delight running there too.”

Moreira makes it 500 Hong Kong wins with treble

It was a brighter day for Moreira across the board though as the Brazilian maestro landed a treble and recorded one of his biggest milestones of a storied Hong Kong career yet as he made it 500 wins in the city.

The Brazilian scored his first two wins in Hong Kong in December 2012, scoring aboard Peter Ho-trained pair All The Winners and Noble Deluxe on his way to taking out the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship that year. He moved to the territory as a Club Jockey in October 2013 and has been named champion rider each of the past two seasons.

“The milestone, it means a high five!” a cheeky Moreira told the waiting crowd after the last. “It’s very nice to get to that mark, but I think we’re going to stretch that number out a little bit yet, don’t worry.”

Moreira started the day with a win on debutant Bravo Watchman (127lb), the three-year-old sharing the lead early before racing clear for a two and a half length success in the Class 4 Cineraria Handicap over the straight 1000m.

“We were a bit concerned when he arrived in the stable because he weighed 1330 pounds and had a few little issues!” trainer Chris So said. “But the moment he stepped on the track he showed us he had an engine. He is so big and he is still growing, he doesn’t know what to do with that frame and can’t really get around a turn too well yet, so I thought the straight would be the good place to start him, even though I think he will be a 1400m horse. And from the moment he first trialled, I wanted Joao to ride – who better to help educate the horse from early on?”

A narrow win on David Hall’s Mambo Rock (115lb) followed for the Magic Man in the Class 3 Heung Yee Kuk Cup Handicap (1800m), before he brought up his milestone on impressive winner Western Express (121lb) in the Class 2 Orchid Handicap (1400m).

John Size-trained Western Express is on a BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) path and has mixed his form since his local debut, winning twice, placing once and finishing out of the money twice from five starts. However, Moreira believes the horse is heading the right way towards a Derby, although he is still cautious about whether the four-year-old classic may come up too soon for the son of Encosta De Lago.

“The horse is trending the right way, there’s no doubt about that,” Moreira said. “He ran well first-up, his second run he didn’t have things go his way and he ran terrible, his third run he ran extremely well and was just beaten and then his fourth run, he faced the big boys in the Classic Mile. His form is not that consistent, but he’s taking two steps forward, one step back, so he’s heading in the right direction, and he’s improved so much in the last three months, even since his first run.

“He’s still got a couple of steps to go up to be level with the big boys, but I like him very much. He’s still not there and he could be a horse for next season, because I don’t think he’s even close to his best yet. But nothing would surprise me with him because I’ve seen horses with the same sort of form turn up at the Derby and produce their best, and I think if he reaches where I think he will get to, he could win a Derby.”

Trainers Me Tsui and Benno Yung prepared doubles on the card. Tsui took out both dirt races – the Class 4 Daffodil Handicap (1200m) and the Class 3 Peach Blossom Handicap (1200m) – with Flying Godspell (122lb) and Fight Hero (133lb) respectively, while Yung won the first section of the Class 4 Daisy Handicap (1400m) with Meisterstueck (117lb) and the closer, the Class 3 Pussy Willow Handicap (1200m), with Always Win (115lb).

Hong Kong racing returns to Happy Valley on Wednesday night for an eight-race card, with the opening event scheduled for 7:15pm.