Voyage Bubble to bid for more G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile glory

By Maddy Playle

Only superstars win back-to-back editions of the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m), and Voyage Bubble will endeavour to join exalted company at Sha Tin on Sunday (14 December).

Monopolize, Good Ba Ba, Beauty Generation and Golden Sixty make up the short list of those to have landed consecutive runnings of the HK$36 million prize, but Voyage Bubble would be a deserving addition to the elite group.

A dominant success in last year’s race paved the way for him becoming Hong Kong’s first Triple Crown winner for 31 years by virtue of success in the G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m), G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m).

James McDonald partnered him to those major successes, but it will be a case of his career going full circle on Sunday as Zac Purton gets the leg up after the pair chased home Romantic Warrior in the G2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (2000m) last time. Their relationship dates back to 2022.

“He’s a good ride to pick up,” Purton said. “I won his first race on him. I thought he was a progressive sprinter and he ended up going on to win a (Hong Kong) Classic Mile (1600m) and the (BMW Hong Kong) Derby (2000m). He’s obviously ended up a lot better horse than I initially thought he was going to be. He’s been a real star. If you go through his record, he’s a bloody good horse.”

It speaks to the talent of Voyage Bubble that he is still considered a horse for intermediate distances despite winning the Hong Kong Classic Mile and two editions of the Stewards’ Cup, but Purton is mindful of the seven-year-old’s staying power.

He said: “He’s going from 2000m back to 1600m, and when he did that last year, he was a bit dour, so that’s a concern. But hopefully he can draw well and get a nice run.

“What he did last year really surprised me as I always thought he was a miler. As he went to 2000m, he seemed to go to another level, and when he went to 2400m, he was a different horse again.

“He might well be better suited to a mile-and-a-quarter or a mile-and-a-half, but he’s a lovely horse to ride; he does anything you want.”

While there will be no Romantic Warrior to worry about, Sunday’s contest will be a tough assessment of Voyage Bubble’s qualities, with Group 1 winners Soul Rush, Docklands, Embroidery and Red Lion, who defeated him in the G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) in April, making up a compelling field.

“It’s a very strong race,” Purton said. “It’s probably the most interesting race out of all of them. There’s plenty of depth there and horses are coming from everywhere.”