Beauty Generation, as consistent as they come, begins another win streak in Chairman's Cup at Sha Tin

Beauty Generation’s steady presence as an elite racehorse in Hong Kong stood in stark contrast Sunday to the more typical volatility to which even the most talented horses are susceptible.

Favored Waikuku took a major step backward finishing sixth in the Group 2, $548,270 Chairman’s Cup run spectator-free at Sha Tin. Waikuku had beaten Beauty Generation when last they met, but while Beauty Generation might not be quite the horse he was a year ago, he never has dropped off much, and consistency of performance is one quieter characteristic of a true star.

Four races later at Sha Tin, vastly talented and heavily favored Aethero flubbed the start, raced unprofessionally, and checked in last of eight in the Group 2, $548,270 Sprint Cup. Longshot Voyage Warrior ran the race of his life, leading from the start to win by three-quarters of a length over Hot King Prawn.

Beauty Generation doesn’t miss the break and even if at times his aggressive nature has led him to race too freely, he never throws a clunker. Even after his 10-race winning streak that led him to be rated one of the best horses in the world ended last fall, giving way to a four-race losing streak, Beauty Generation always was there or thereabouts, finishing second or third in those defeats. And now he has started another streak, which stands at two after he scored a handy half-length win over pacesetting Ka Ying Star in the Chairman’s Cup.

:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, and analysis

Jockey Zac Purton got Beauty Generation into comfortable rhythm tracking a Ka Ying Star, who went an opening 400 meters in 25.07 seconds, slower than par by .47 seconds for a 1,600-meter group stakes at Sha Tin, before turning in a 45.68 middle 800 meters, .77 seconds faster than par. Purton sat chilly until about the 250-meter mark, knowing he had Ka King Star whenever he wanted him while glancing back to gauge the seriousness of an outside bid from Southern Legend.

When Purton asked his mount, Beauty Generation responded, drawing away from the pacesetter and the closer until Purton wrapped up on his mount 10 meters from the finish, doing his best to save something for the Group 1 Champions Mile on April 26. Beauty Generation, the only other horse off at single-digit odds in a seven-runner field, got his last 400 meters in 22.74 for a final time of 1:33.49, a quick clocking over turf rated “good” despite some rainy weather.

Waikuku, seemingly a rising star in the Hong Kong miler ranks, got a perfect trip pocketed behind the lead group while racing along the fence, but came under heavy pressure at the head of the homestretch and had no response, beating only one horse to the finish. Hong Kong Jockey Club stewards in their race report said a post-race veterinary exam had revealed no acute problems but that the distinctly subpar performance from Waikuku had been “unacceptable” and would require a barrier trial (training race) and vet’s exam deemed satisfactory by stewards before Waikuku could race again.

Beauty Generation, a 7-year-old New Zealand-bred by Road to Rock out of Bel Esprit, by Stylish Bel, won for the 16th time in Hong Kong. The John Moore-trained gelding is set to come back in three weeks with a chance to win his third straight Champions Mile.

“He’s done that nicely leading into the Champions Mile,” Moore said. “He’s 100 percent right now, so I’ve just got to carry that through the next three weeks.”

While everything unfolded perfectly for Beauty Generation, stablemate Aethero went amiss from start to finish in the Sprint Cup. Aethero, still a 3-year-old on Southern Hemisphere time, wants to at least race freely and prefers to lead, but he broke last, rushed headlong into traffic on the backstretch run, getting into trouble that forced Purton to check hard. Aethero never got comfortable – reportedly also disliking the state of the Sha Tin course, which had taken rain and six races of use – and faded back to last.

Voyage Warrior required no excuses, skipping over the ground while keenly in the bridle but relaxed while setting a slower-than-par pace under Vincent Ho. Hot King Prawn tried to come to him in the final 300 meters but Voyage Warrior had plenty left to fend off that challenge, with Thanks Forever third. Voyage Warrior clocked 1:09.48, more than one second slower than par for a 1,200-meter group race at Sha Tin, and paid $48.30 to win.

Ricky Yiu trains the 4-year-old gelding, an Australian-bred son of Declaration of War out of Chaleur, by Stravinsky. Voyage Warrior won three of four starts during his first Hong Kong racing season but this was just his second win from six tries this season. Voyage Warrior had raced from off the lead in recent starts as connections worked on teaching him to settle, and Yiu said time spent at the Chonghua training center in mainland China had helped relax his charge.

Voyage Warrior now moves on to the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize on April 26. Whether he can repeat his peak performance there, of course, is uncertain. Few horses have the remarkable consistency of an animal like Beauty Generation.