At champion Japanese jockey Yutaka Take’s previous ride in the HK$25 million Longines Hong Kong Cup, he narrowly missed taking the race by stealth but he learned his lesson well and on Sunday used A Shin Hikari to simply bludgeon the opposition.

It’s no use fighting him, even to lead more slowly. When he gets to the front and wants to run, you have to let him run so that’s what I did
Yutaka Take

Take had not ridden at Sha Tin for two years, not since a gem of a ride moderating the lead pace on Tokei Halo all but pinched the 2013 Cup until Akeed Mofeed emerged to run over the top of him.

But this time there was no moderation, nobody emerging and there was certainly nobody running over the top of A Shin Hikari as he churned out fast sectionals in front, spreading the talented Cup field over large parts of the New Territories and the job to run him down was just too much.

“His temperament can be difficult and he was hard to handle last start in Tokyo, he didn’t lead and he failed,” Take said.

“How he ran today is how he has to race. It’s no use fighting him, even to lead more slowly. When he gets to the front and wants to run, you have to let him run so that’s what I did.”

Tearaway A Shin Hikari and jockey Yutaka Take run the field ragged, with only compatriot Nuovo Record and Hong Kong’s Blazing Speed getting anywhere near him at the finish.

The tactics saw A Shin Hikari record the fastest Hong Kong Cup ever, getting under the 2:00.9 that Falbrav had set as the benchmark.

Take also believes that having the flighty four-year-old based at Sha Tin for the past week played an important part in getting A Shin Hikari to do his best, the jockey scoring his second HKIR win, 14 years after Stay Gold’s Vase.

“He has stayed in the one place, trained in the one place and now raced in the same place so he was more relaxed because of that,” he said.

“The trainer’s staff have been trying some different things to help him relax too so they can take some credit.”

Trainer Masahiro Sakaguchi at the presentation.

Take said that A Shin Hikari’s manners would prevent him running any further than 2,000m and his response to questions about possible targets in Dubai or beyond was a simple one.

“Maybe the QE II Cup would make most sense – we know now that he likes it here and that’s a big part of getting him to show his best with his mental quirks,” he said, although the fact A Shin Hikari has now won nine of his 11 starts speaks more kindly of the horse’s ability to focus.

Dermot Weld-trained Free Eagle failed to live up to his inflated reputation, one of the first to puncture after sitting in third, and he finished a dismal last.

A Shin Hikari and Yutaka Take take a victory walk.

The job of chasing A Shin Hikari over the line went to another Japanese runner, Nuovo Record (Ryan Moore), with Blazing Speed best of the locals.

Jockey Neil Callan said he couldn’t be happier in running on Blazing Speed, but he just didn’t have the answers to the winner’s questions: “I had a fantastic run through the race sitting just off the front and, coming to the corner, I was thinking, ‘Well, he’s gone that quick he’s got to stop sometime’, but he didn’t.”

Designs On Rome (fourth) didn’t disappoint Joao Moreira or John Moore, who said the way the race was run just left the gelding too much to do.

“He’s made a lot of ground up and Joao said he was all heart. I think he has confirmed today that he’s come back well from that surgery in the summer, but the race wasn’t set up to suit him,” Moore said.


A man of few words but Ryan Moore waxes lyrical

Never mind the odds on offer for A Shin Hikari’s barnstorning romp to win the Longines Hong Kong Cup yesterday, the biggest outsider to arrive on the day was that the normally taciturn Ryan Moore won the prize as the day’s best and most prolific speechmaker.

The champion jockey won the HK$16.5 million Vase on Highland Reel and the HK$23 million Mile on Maurice, and finished runner-up in the Cup on Nuovo Record for good measure, with Strathmore’s late scratching for a positive test ensuring his influence on the day’s major races ended there.

But with trainer Aidan O’Brien not in attendance, and no Coolmore representative assigned, Moore was the spokesman for Highland Reel at the post-race press conference.

Almost two hours later, he was back in the role as primary spokesman when Maurice won the Mile, as trainer Noriyuki Hori refused the assistance of a translator at the post-race presser as he said he had no intention of talking to the media.

Ryan Moore chats with The Mentalist star and Longines ambassador Simon Baker after winning the Hong Kong Mile.

Once again, it was Moore to the rescue and he did a fine job that belied his reputation as a man of few words.

With a very brief interview with winning trainer Masanori Sakaguchi after the Cup, yesterday’s four HKIR press conferences were probably the least revealing ever, but Moore stood out.

He was in the thick of everything all day, prominent in his three rides in the international Group One events, missed out as part of the other major story from the features, and managed to find his way into the stewards’ bad books again.

Moore had copped a four-day ban and HK$30,000 for causing interference at Happy Valley on Wednesday during the International Jockeys’ Championship series and he backed that up with another four-day suspension for careless riding on Maurice in the early stages of the Hong Kong Mile.

This time, there was no fine, although he had certainly earned enough on the day to afford one.


WHAT THEY SAID

“The horse was in very good condition so I had much confidence going into the race. The horse sometimes has a difficult temperament. Travelling to Hong Kong will be very suitable for him in the future.”

A Shin Hikari - Yutaka Take

“Very pleased with her, she ran a cracker. The other one was just too good on the day. She came here with a rating of 112 and that’s just wrong. She was underrated.”

Nuovo Record - Ryan Moore

“He got a nice position and I was happy where I was because if I’d had to lay up any closer I’d have been pushing him. For Blazing Speed to have to be niggled along - the pace was pretty strong. He was well-balanced, he went into a nice rhythm and when I came off the corner I thought the race was mine for the taking. I was waiting for the one to stop in front but it actually went a length again, so fair dues. My horse has run an incredible race.”

Blazing Speed - Neil Callan

“They went a very strong pace and he tends to get back early and was well back again but finished very strongly. I was delighted with his effort.”

Designs On Rome - Joao Moreira

“She ran enormous. I reckon she’d have won eight out of 10 Group One races in Australia on that performance.”

Lucia Valentina - Damien Oliver

“No excuses. We all just got run into the ground. That was some performance from the winner.”

Military Attack - Zac Purton

“I had the run of the race, just didn’t have the horse. He ran to his best. He found the class a bit strong but the class is going to drop off and when it does he’ll start winning.”

Dan Excel - Hugh Bowman

“I think he was too young and soft for a tough race like that. We went flat out all the way and I got a beautiful run but had no horse at the end.”

Beauty Only - Gerald Mosse

“He missed the start, never really got into it and the track might have been a bit firm for him.”

Criterion - Craig Williams

“The horse was in good form but I could not get an inside position so it was a bit tough.”

Staphanos - Keita Tosaki

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Satono Aladdin - James McDonald

“They went too quick, and the ground was maybe a bit too lively for him. He is better with a little more give in the ground. He is a good Group Two horse, but this was a very good race.”

Free Port Lux - Thierry Jarnet

“I think the travel to Hong Kong must have taken a lot out of him. He had a lovely position but once we straightened up he flattened out very quickly. He did not show the turn of foot we know he has.”

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