Hong Kong: Voyage Bubble wins Champions and Chater Cup, notches Triple Crown

Voyage Bubble aced his first test racing beyond 1 1/4 miles, rolling to an easy win Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in the Group 1, $1.1 million Champions and Chater Cup and becoming Hong Kong’s second Triple Crown winner and first in 31 years.

Patiently ridden from fifth by James McDonald, Voyage Bubble cruised to the lead while barely being asked with 250 meters left to race and strolled across the wire 3 1/2 lengths to the good, completing the only other local Triple Crown since River Verdon pulled off the feat in 2003-04.

Hong Kong’s Triple Crown, for older horses, consists of the 1,600-meter Stewards Cup in January, the 2,000-meter Gold Cup in February, and, finally, the 2,400-meter Champions and Chater Cup. Voyage Bubble won all three races with speed to spare and put to rest any doubt he’d carry his brilliance of this extended two-turn trip, albeit mainly against local opposition he’d generally dominated in the past.

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His main competition figured to come from globetrotting Dubai Honour, who was given a somewhat strange ride, moving fast into a strong pace down the backstretch, caught wide on the far turn, and, in the end, a fading fourth. Rubylot finished second, a half-length better than third-place Cape Ferrat.

Ricky Yiu trains Voyage Bubble, who now has won five Group 1 races, four of them this season, when he emerged as a true star. Bred in Australia, 6-year-old Voyage Bubble is by Deep Field out of the Rahy mare, Raheights.

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