Prawn and Pepper taste defeat as Admire Cozzene triumphs

Hong Kong hopes of another famous Yasuda Kinen success were dashed in Tokyo yesterday as Jeune King Prawn and Red Pepper trailed home in midfield behind Japanese-trained winner Admire Cozzene.

The Mitsuru Hashida-trained Admire Cozzene, a 15-1 shot, took the Group One mile contest by a neck over second favourite Dantsu Flame, while the Ivan Allan-trained Jeune King Prawn finished 10th, just ahead of Brian Kan Ping-chee's Red Pepper in 12th place. The low draws secured by the Hong Kong horses proved of no benefit in the $11.2 million race, with the winner and runner-up coming from the outside in barriers 18 and 17 respectively, though third-placed Millennium Bio was drawn in gate two.

There was disappointment, too, for race favourite Eishin Preston, winner of the Hong Kong Mile and Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin this season. The Japanese star got too far back in the early stages before running on late to finish fifth, beaten around two lengths. Zenno El Cid, another of the fancied horses in the 18-runner field, again disappointed in a big race, trailing home in last place, just as he had done when even-money favourite for the Hong Kong Mile in December.

Admire Cozzene gave Hashida his first Yasuda Kinen success. It was also jockey Hiroki Goto's first Group One victory. 'I didn't think we could win until the end of the race, but the horse ran well down the stretch,' Goto said after the race.

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's director of racing, said Jeune King Prawn and Red Pepper had acquitted themselves well, even if they could not match the heroics of Fairy King Prawn, who landed Hong Kong's sole Group One success overseas when he won the Yasuda Kinen in 2000.

'I think the Hong Kong horses ran creditable races,' Engelbrecht-Bresges said. 'The inside draws for Jeune King Prawn and Red Pepper were of no help as the winner and the runner-up were drawn on the wide outside. I think that Jeune King Prawn was a little too handy and too keen at the beginning of the race and this cost him too much energy.