Beauty Joy proved that age is just a number in stunning comeback fashion in the Group Three Premier Plate (1,800m), the final Group race of the campaign, at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Before his victory in the race 12 months ago, Cruz told the owners, the Kwok family, that if his then eight-year-old son did not win the race, he would retire him.
The situation repeated itself this campaign, with Cruz hinting a few weeks ago that he would retire again following his Premier Plate run, but his nine-year-old hero continues to defy expectations.
“I told Simon Kwok, the owner, last year when he ran this race at the age of eight, I said ‘if he wins we will continue for another season, if we fail we will retire him’,” Cruz said.
“He’s actually won again, and he just told me it looks like we’re going to continue. We’ll run one more race in the Racehorse Owners Association Cup (July 12) and then make the final decision.
“At 10 years old, it might be too old for him. He’s been a real horse – a very hard horse to run, but he’s got a fighting heart.”
Settling in the middle of the field under Moreira, the Brazilian jockey came out of the fence with the field flat, before spying a wide gap between Romantic Thor and Ka Ying Generation.
As so often this season, Moreira took the chance and passed the field, emerging in time to beat the fast-finishing Light Years Half Charm by half a length, the horse he beat three weeks ago in the Group Three Simba Rock Trophy (1,600m).
Not many horses run near Sha Tin and Happy Valley as nine-year-olds, and very few win Group races.
In fact, the last nine-year-old to win any Group race in Hong Kong was Able One, who achieved the Group One Hong Kong Mile in 2011, with Bullish Luck’s 2008 Group Three Hundred 1,800 (1,800m) the only one in the last 20 years.
Cruz now stands alone as the most successful trainer in the race, with Moreira winning three times in the race, and much credit was heaped on the shoulders of ‘The Magic Man’.
“I had a lot of confidence today – I got Joao to ride him and I had a lot of confidence. Joao ran a good race and I’m very happy,” Cruz said.
“In the past, weight often slowed him down. I said to Joao ‘this time, run outside but if you can break through the field, then go ahead because he has the heart to see it through’. All thanks to Joao.”
David Eustace’s Light Years Charm continued to bounce back with a second goal at his first attempt over a mile, with Romantic Thor running third, beating Eustace’s other runner Silvery Breeze.
The victory was part of a double for Moreira, who also delivered a salute aboard Victory Machine in the Grade Five Spessartine Garnet Handicap (1,400m) for trainer Caspar Fownes.
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