Exultant the likely choice in Centenary Cup
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Exultant flew from the back of a field of 14 to finish third in the $2.29 million Hong Kong Derby for 4-year-olds at Sha Tin Racecourse on March 18, the richest race of his career.
Ping Hai Star, who won the Hong Kong Derby, is rated as a leading contender for the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin on April 29, a race worth approximately $3.05 million.
Exultant is nominated to the Queen Elizabeth II Cup where the 4-year-old gelding would be an outsider. A more reasonable goal is Sunday’s $236,945 Kowloon Cricket Club Centenary Cup at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Sha Tin. Exultant is likely to be favored.
Sunday’s distance is a new test for Exultant, but should not be an issue judging from his finish in the Hong Kong Derby and a win in a minor handicap at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Sha Tin in January.
Trained by Tony Cruz, Exultant is the 133-pound highweight in the Centenary Cup, which drew a field of 10. Exultant was third behind Churchill and Thunder Snow in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas in 2017 when racing under the name Irishcorrespondent.
Horses sometimes have their names changed when they began racing in Hong Kong. Exultant had his debut in Hong Kong in November.
Thunder Snow won the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 31.
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Ruthven, fourth in the Hong Kong Derby, is part of the Centenary Cup and among the 11 nominations for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup. Trained by John Moore, Ruthven won a minor handicap at Sha Tin prior to the Hong Kong Derby. In consecutive starts last spring in Australia, Ruthven was second in the Group 1 South Australian Derby at 1 1/2 miles on turf and won the Group 1 Queensland Derby at 1 3/8 miles on turf.
Ruthven will carry 132 pounds.
Packing Dragon, a 6-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, was assigned 132 pounds, but will be ridden by apprentice jockey Victor Wong, who claims 10 pounds. Packing Dragon, trained by Ricky Yiu, was a two-time winner at Sha Tin in February and was seventh in a race similar to the Centenary Cup in April, 2017.
Packing Dragon was sixth behind Gold Mount in the Happy Valley Vase on Feb. 28.
