'That's just what he loves, a good speed and he kicked hard' Happy Valley star Fruity Fruity bid farewell to the track - at least for the moment - with a scorching January Cup victory over 1,800 metres last night. With a sterling pace set by dour frontrunner Liberal's Choice, the winning time was just 0.4 of a second outside the course record as Fruity Fruity (Brett Prebble) outgamed the leader to win his sixth race at the circuit. 'That's just what he loves, a good speed and he kicked hard,' said trainer Paul O'Sullivan, who saddled up last season's Happy Valley Million Challenge winner for just the second time. 'He came to me from Derek Cruz in terrific shape after his first two starts this season and, frankly, I don't think I've had to do anything clever. The horse is a five-year-old and probably needed those first couple of runs with Derek now that he's older. His first run for me the other day behind Famous Dancer was good, because Brett had to go back on him with a big weight and they didn't really run along but he did get the line well.' Fruity Fruity sat just off the speed then drove at Liberal's Choice at the 200m, looking all over the winner but the leader didn't give in without a fright - for O'Sullivan, that is. 'In some ways, this had to be Fruity Fruity's race tonight and I thought for one awful minute the other one was going to kick back and win,' the trainer said. 'With the points he gets for this win, that will be it for him at Happy Valley because there just aren't any races for horses in the high 90s here. So we'll have to take him to Sha Tin and see how he handles it. As I understand it, the reason he's done most of his racing here is to win the Million Challenge last year, not because he doesn't handle Sha Tin, so I'm optimistic.' Prebble agreed, saying he could see no reason for Fruity Fruity not to cope with Sha Tin. 'He just feels like a horse looking for more ground than 1,800m to me, and I'd like to see him in a 2,000m at Sha Tin and find out how he goes there,' he said. 'I think he'd go well.' Belgian star Christophe Soumillon was the star on horseback at last night's meeting, claiming a double for an absent John Moore on Glorious Rhythm in the second and Sounds Best in the final event. And the night was a good one for all connections to the Moore camp, with Moore's apprentice Terry Wong Chi-wai again showing excellent judgment on a frontrunner to score on Manifest for Caspar Fownes. Fellow apprentice Jacky Tong Chi-kit - who has yet to open his account for the season in 61 rides - missed the ride on Manifest due to a bout of flu. 'It's a shame because we thought it was a very winnable race and Manifest's form had been good,' Fownes said. 'He had absolutely no luck with Christophe Soumillon aboard two runs ago at this course and with the claim looked well. To tell the truth, I was very surprised at the price.' And the Almond Lee Yee-tat-trained One Eye Jack (Olivier Doleuze) showed himself to be a slow maturing stayer with at least some hope of rising above Class Five when he streeted the opposition over 2,200m in the opener. 'He's still green and has a little improvement. The owner is very happy because One Eye Jack is out of his mare, but it's not really an ideal pedigree for Hong Kong,' said Lee. 'The horse is a 2,400m stayer and there aren't many races for that kind of horse here. I'm hoping he can be a bit like Million Success - while he's in good form he can find another race.' In the stewards room it was a quiet night, with the panel again adjourning its inquiry into jockey Robbie Fradd's tactics on Main Attraction at Sha Tin last Sunday. That hearing may continue this afternoon. The Jockey Club claimed another small win last night, with the meeting turnover of $727.8 million the highest for a night meeting so far this season, though it was down on the figure for last year's comparative card.
