Cruz has three in Standard Chartered Champions and Chater Cup

There just aren’t a lot of mile-and-a-half horses in Hong Kong, and if you want proof, look no further than the Group 1, $1,274,600 Standard Chartered Champions and Chater Cup on Sunday at Sha Tin.

The 2400-meter race lured just five entrants, including the shipper Chemical Charge, meaning only four locally based horses run. Tony Cruz trains three of them, including Pakistan Star, who races for the first time since finally putting all his psychological baggage aside and scoring a monumental three-length victory in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup on April 29.

Pakistan Star was banned from racing earlier this season by Hong Kong stewards because of his pesky habit of periodically refusing to race. Pakistan Star, a German-bred 5-year-old gelding by Shamardal, appears to finally have his head screwed on straight, but he is being asked to race farther than 2000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) for the first time, and his trainer told Hong Kong Jockey Club publicity that he feels Exultant is his top hope Sunday.

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Exultant raced in all three legs of Hong Kong’s 4-year-old championship series, which is akin to the local Triple Crown, finishing fourth, second, and third, improving as distances lengthened from 1600 meters to 1800 and finally out to 2000. Exultant tried 2400 meters for the first time May 6 in the Group 3 Queen Mother Memorial Handicap and despite carrying top weight won by six lengths. Sunday’s race is at level weights, but Exultant at least stays the trip.

Cruz’s third entrant is the capable Gold Mount, who rallied for fifth behind a false pace this past December in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase, his only previous 2400-meter start this Hong Kong season. Chemical Charge finished one placing and three-quarters of a length in front of Gold Mount in the Vase, his only previous Hong Kong start. Eagle Way began the Hong Kong season as a horse of great promise but has struggled to really find his way for trainer John Moore.

The Champions and Chater Cup is carded as race 8 on an 11-race program with post time for the Sunday feature scheduled for 4:05 a.m. Eastern.

The card’s supporting feature, race 4, is the Group 3 Sha Tin Vase for sprinters at 1200 meters (about six furlongs), and the field is filled with familiar names – familiar but diminished. Lucky Bubbles once was Hong Kong’s top sprinter but has lost his five starts this racing season and does not appear to be on the cusp of improvement. Notlistenin’tome also once was a reliable Group 1 performer but he has now lost 16 starts in a row. The lower-rated, lesser-known horses also fail to capture the imagination, though one does imagine someone will actually win the Sha Tin Vase.