Beauty Generation suffers first defeat in 18 months as Rise High strikes

It was supposed to be a procession for Beauty Generation at Sha Tin on Sunday but, as Enable and more recently Stradivarius, showed there is no such thing as a certainty in racing.

Sent off a short-priced favourite to make it 11 wins in a row, and 17 overall in Hong Kong, Beauty Generation was settled up near the pace but had no answer to the finishing flourish of Rise High and runner-up Waikuku, so suffering his first defeat since April 2018.

The winner, who was receiving a stone from John Moore's star, was only tenth in this mile handicap 12 months ago but finished last season on a high with a Group 3 win in the Premier Plate.

Formerly trained by Ken Condon when named Landfall, Rise High could step up in trip according to trainer Caspar Fownes.

He said: "It's an emotional day and a great day. I've said for a long time that I think this horse could be Hong Kong's next big thing and he's really getting there now."

Rise High (far side): strikes the front at Sha TinCredit: Wallace Yeung

A philosophical Moore told South China Morning Post: “He’s a better horse when he’s left to run along. When he’s in the box seat like that. He just doesn’t show the same turn of foot.

“It was just circumstances that really prevented him from really rolling along like he likes to. You could see that he was heavily restrained in behind. He just wasn’t comfortable. So from that point of view, just forgive him for it. Just wait for the set-weights races and see what happens.”

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