Topic

Champions Mile
Advertisement

Rugged trier upsets the big names to land the Group One success he had been lacking as Champions Mile refuses to go to script

Hong Kong's leading big money trainer, John Moore resorted to the gods to improve his luck last week and they answered unequivocally yesterday with a winning treble and his fifth Champions Mile in the past seven years as Dan Excel kept the HK$12 million international event at home yet again.

With the Classic Mile, Stewards' Cup and Derby already in the bag, a fourth Group One victory for the Durban Demon hinges on Glorious Days and that would be his personal peak.

Advertisement
Advertisement

The announcement that two top-liners from the southern hemisphere will be lining up in next month's HK$12 million Champions Mile at Sha Tin was somewhat overshadowed yesterday by trainer Tony Millard's intention to back up dual Horse Of The Year Ambitious Dragon in the race.

There are 12 nominations from Australia for the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup on April 28 and the Champions Mile on May 5, although confirmation of such runners usually would not take place until after some major Group One meetings under way at the Sydney autumn racing carnival.

It seems Jockey Club's job of elevating the quality of its international races has been a task well done and there will be some pride around Happy Valley headquarters that Hong Kong had five races listed in the list of the world's top 50 Group Ones of 2012.