Xtension (green silks) leads them home in the Champions Mile at Sha Tin
PICTURE: Hong Kong Jockey ClubXtension beats Presvis into sixth in Hong Kong
Report: Hong Kong, Monday
Sha Tin: BMW Champions Mile (Group 1) 1m, turf, 3yo+
BRITISH visitor Presvis finished only sixth behind former Clive Cox-trained Xtension (John Moore/Darren Beadman), who chose a lucrative occasion on which to register his first Hong Kong victory in the Champions Mile.
Last year's 2,000 Guineas fourth, who could target the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, led inside the closing stages of the £930,000 showpiece to deny local favourite Lucky Nine by half a length.
Musir did best of the three overseas raiders to run third, although Christophe Soumillon had the whip knocked from his grasp on the latter at the furlong pole and finished only a short-head behind the runner-up at the line.
As might have been anticipated, the even tempo and slightly inadequate distance of a mile worked against Luca Cumani's admirable Presvis, held up as usual towards the rear by Ryan Moore, though the seven-year-old still ran on well to finish sixth, beaten just one and a half lengths.
"It was just a fraction short for him," said Moore. "It might have been interesting with another furlong."
Winning trainer John Moore (left)
PICTURE: Hong Kong Jockey ClubXtension earned the unique distinction of becoming the first Sha Tin-based horse to record his maiden local victory in an international Group 1 rather than one confined to those trained in Hong Kong.
The four-year-old son of Xaar was recruited by trainer John Moore for owner Steven Lo with the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby the long-term goal.
He ran second to Ambitious Dragon last month in that race and, though dropping back in distance here by two furlongs, he was heavily backed into 3.2-1 second favourite in the final moments before the gates opened.
Beadman stalked the pace from midfield and angled Xtension into clear running at the turn for home to reel in Lucky Nine with about 50 metres to race.
The jockey punched the air in relief as he hit the wire. It transpired that, had he been allowed,he might well have switched to the winner's stablemate Able One, winner of the race in 2007 and 2010.
"Xtension was hard-fit after the Derby and he got an unimpeded run and just toughed it out in the straight," said Beadman. "It's a good thing I didn't gallop Able One earlier in the week as, who knows, I might have switched, but I was always happy to be on Xtension and there's more to come with him, I believe."
Winning jockey Darren Beadman
PICTURE: Hong Kong Jockey ClubTrainer Moore is by far Hong Kong's most prolific winner of Group 1 races in recent seasons, but still a major title outside the confines of Sha Tin remains elusive. But now he senses he has another horse with which to go to into battle on foreign shores - and he mooted a brief repatriation of Xtension in the Queen Anne.
"I'd like to have a go at the Royal Ascot race," he said. "Maybe the likes of Canford Cliffs and Goldikova will stretch him, but it would be good to go for the atmosphere and the occasion."
It has long been Moore's dream to win a Group 1 in his native Australia, where his Hall of Fame father George ruled the roost as a jockey for decades, and he also suggested a crack at the Cox Plate in October.
However, it seems unlikely that both England andAustralia would be assailed with the same horse after a fairly arduous, but clearly successful, introductory campaign to life in Hong Kong.
Caspar Fownes' Irish import Lucky Nine reconfirmed his status as a major player in Hong Kong's principal events by running second over a mile distance that does not appear to entirely play to his speed-based brilliance.
Jockey Brett Prebble rued the fact he had been kept wide on the Dubawi gelding through the first half of the race by Able One.
"If we'd been able to slot in earlier it might have been a different story," the Australian reported.
Hong Kong milers are exceedingly difficult to beat on their own patch and remain unbeaten in this race since it was opened to international competition in 2005.
On that basis, Presvis, who has never won at the trip, emerged from the race with great credit and must surely be very hard to beat when he next surfaces in the Singapore Airlines International Cup at Kranji on May 22.
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