Tony Cruz rarely feels the burden of expectation as heavily as he did yesterday when he saw the lunch invitation issued by Willie Detroy's owner Eugene Chuang Yue-chien.
'I got the surprise of my life when I read the invitation. It said: 'Join us at Sha Tin and witness [Willie Detroy's] debut victory'. Man, I don't normally feel pressure but I did today.'
Willie Detroy, in the ever-capable hands of Felix Coetzee, did the rest. Despite racing deep and without cover for most of the trip, the New Zealand galloper forged to the front on the home turn and then staved off the late finishes of Wealthy (Eric Saint-Martin) and Cheeky (Corey Brown) to land the $1.6 million Sa Sa Ladies Purse (1,800m).
Victories with Hong Kong debutants at Class One level are extremely rare, but ironically Cruz has now done it twice in this race, having won last year with Russian Pearl in course-record time.
'This is a very nice horse and he's headed towards the International Races, but at this stage I think Russian Pearl is the better horse,' Cruz said.
'This was a very good effort today. I thought he was my best chance for the day and he's come through, and I was pleased with the courage he showed after doing a bit of work early.
