Nothingilikemore impresses in winning Hong Kong Classic Mile

Nothingilikemore delivered what his form had promised, scoring a decisive win Sunday at Sha Tin in the $1,279,400 Hong Kong Classic Mile.

The Classic Mile is the first leg of Hong Kong’s important 4-year-old classic series, and whether Nothingilikemore can get 2,000 meters, or about 1 1/4 miles, in the Hong Kong Derby remains to be seen, but for now, he is the best locally based miler of his generation, and he showed it Sunday.

Nothingilikemore actually broke first or second under Joao Moreira but was outraced to the lead, first by Ruthven, who crossed and cleared, and then by Morethanlucky and Singapore Sling. Pushed back into fourth after a furlong down the backstretch, Nothingilikemore got a little rank as Moreira continued easing him back while getting one path off the rail, but as he fell back to sixth, then seventh, Nothingilikemore relaxed into the hands of his rider.

As Lockheed went past him and the halfway point loomed, Moreira commenced the next phase of his journey, letting Nothingilikemore follow Lockheed, winding up for his run. Moreira tipped three deep outside Lockheed with just less than 600 meters to run, then went six or seven wide into the home straight for the final push, and Nothingilikemore took off. He was about one length from the lead with 400 meters left, had hit the front with 300 to go, and drew away over the final 200 meters to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

“We were hoping that we could settle a bit closer, but unfortunately horses around me were making me run, trying to get in, and I had to let them go,” Moreira said. “I didn't want to get inside of them and get pushed to the fence, so I had to give away that position. Once I got behind horses with cover, two off the fence, I was quite confident that I would have a full-on horse at the finish, and that was the case.”

Singapore Sling, who got a good trip, finished second and was 1 1/4 lengths better than Morethanlucky, but the horse to watch in longer races is fourth-place Exultant. Exultant followed Nothingilikemore around the turn but lacked the winner’s acceleration at the 400 meters and was briefly left reeling. He persevered, however, and was finishing fastest in the last 100 meters.

Nothingilikemore clocked a final 400 meters in a solid 22.90 seconds on the way to a final time of 1:34.24. The final time was just less than par for the class level and distance at Sha Tin, as were the leaders’ final two 400-meter splits, while the race was considerably faster than standard – especially the second 400 meters – through the early stages.

Nothingilikemore is a gelding imported from Australia by Huson out of Katisam by Lonhro, but he did not race before coming to Hong Kong. Trained by John Size for the Happy Corner Syndicate, Nothingilikemore won all four of his starts last Hong Kong season, rising from Class 4 handicaps to Class 2, and won his first race this season before taking a narrow loss after a bad trip on Dec. 10 at Sha Tin. All being well, he is certain to go on through the 4-year-old classic series, which continues with the Hong Kong Classic Cup over 1,800 meters before the 2,000-meter Derby.

“He’s going to run well in the 1,800,” Size said. “The tempo’s going to be a bit different, but he seems to be able to adapt to that once he settles and follows horses. I don’t think that will worry him, and I’d envisage that he’d go to the Derby as well.”

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