Goo Ba Ba named Hong Kong's best

Good Ba Ba was named Hong Kong's Horse of the Year at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Awards ceremony at Sha Tin on Tuesday, the final day of the 9 1/2-month 2007-2008 racing season.

The 6-year-old Lear Fan Kentucky-bred, trained by former German champion Andreas Schutz for Se Kit Yuen, won four Group 1 races in Hong Kong this season, three of them at his favorite distance of a mile: the Hong Kong Mile, the Champions Mile, and the Stewards Cup. He also beat Sacred Kingdom, who was named champion sprinter, in the seven-furlong Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup.

Good Ba Ba's exploits also earned him best miler honors, and the fan's vote as Hong Kong's most popular horse.

Viva Pataca, winner of the Hong Kong Gold Cup and second in the Dubai Sheema Classic, was named champion in the middle-distance and stayers divisions, while Vengeance of Rain was presented with a lifetime achievement award. Doug Whyte won the riders' title for the eighth year in a row, and John Size took his fifth trainer title in the last seven years.