Egyptian Ra runs rivals ragged, but Good Ba Ba on track for Mile repeat

Egyptian Ra took the points, but Good Ba Ba's Hong Kong Mile claims remain very much intact after a sensational ride from Felix Coetzee turned the favourite over in yesterday's HK$3 million Cathay Pacific International Mile Trial.

Coetzee, 49, is the acknowledged master of the front-running ride, and the South African horseman demonstrated the art form superbly, much to the chagrin of the team behind HK$18 favourite Good Ba Ba and his legion of fans.

Egyptian Ra led at a good, even pace but Coetzee applied the sleight of hand approaching the turn - just when his rivals might have expected him to take a rest, he pinched an extra couple of lengths and put even more pressure on them.

Good Ba Ba turned for home some 12 lengths from the leader and then ran the best final 400 metres of the race - 21.76 seconds - for a commendable third, beaten 41/4 lengths.

But while trainer Andreas Schutz, jockey Olivier Doleuze and even stipendiary stewards were left to dissect the performance of the reigning Horse of the Year, Egyptian Ra's connections were in celebration mode and looking forward to the HK$16 million Hong Kong Mile on December 14.

'This horse keeps stepping up and I was very proud of him today,' said trainer Tony Cruz, who just 35 minutes earlier had broken a run of 50 losers when Danesis won the Class One on the all-weather.