Exultant favored in Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup

Exultant was the champion middle-distance horse and champion stayer in Hong Kong for the 2018-19 season, which ended last July. He may win those titles this season, pending how he runs in Sunday’s Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Exultant, who won the 2019 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup for the second of his three Group 1 wins last season, is expected to be an odds-on favorite.

Exultant, a 6-year-old Irish-bred gelding trained by Tony Cruz, has won two of four starts since the start of the Hong Kong season in September. On Jan. 27, Exultant won his eighth group stakes in Hong Kong in the Group 3 Centenary Vase Handicap at 1 1/8 miles.

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The Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup is the first of two Group 1 races worth $1.28 million on Sunday’s program. Later, Beat the Clock will be favored to win his third consecutive stakes in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup at seven furlongs. His main rival is Beauty Generation, the Hong Kong Horse of the Year for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons, who has been beaten in his last four starts.

The Hong Kong Gold Cup is a weight-for-age race, with the 11 runners assigned 126 pounds. Zac Purton has ridden Exultant in all of his group stakes wins in Hong Kong, and has the mount in the Gold Cup. He is likely to have Exultant in a stalking position.

The distance should suit Furore and Glorious Dragon.

Furore won the 2019 Hong Kong Derby at 1 1/4 miles on turf and was a troubled fourth as the favorite in Group 1 Hong Kong Cup at the distance in December against an international field.

Glorious Dragon won a minor handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Sha Tin on Dec. 21 and was second to Exultant in the Centenary Vase Handicap.

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Beat the Clock has been outstanding at six furlongs, winning three of his last four starts at the distance in Group 1 races. If the 6-year-old gelding has a vulnerability, it may be at seven furlongs. Last February, Beat the Clock was second to Beauty Generation in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup.

For Beauty Generation, the 2019 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup was the seventh victory of a 10-race winning streak that ended in October.

Beat the Clock and Beauty Generation have not appeared in the same race since the 2019 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup. The seven-furlong distance is longer than Beat the Clock’s recent starts and shorter than Beauty Generation’s.

Beat the Clock won the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint against an international field on Dec. 8, the day Beauty Generation was third in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile after leading in the stretch.

On Jan. 19, Beat the Clock won the Group 1 Centenary Sprint Cup at six furlongs, the same day Beauty Generation was second by a neck in the Group 1 Stewards’ Cup at a mile.