Able Friend came into Saturday's G2 Jockey Club Mile as a near certainty, and why not? After all, he had made nine starts over the course and distance for eight wins, including this event last term followed by an impossibly easy victory in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile. His lone defeat came over unsuitably soft ground in the 2014 G1 Champions Mile, a race he won with ridiculous ease 12 months later, and after overcoming top weight and a trip well short of his best in the Premier Bowl H. Oct. 25, surely there was little standing in his way of a successful defense of his title here.
Think again.
Beauty Flame, who saw his fair share of Able Friend's considerable hind quarters last season, parlayed a soft trip into a boilover bigger than his off odds of 36-1 might suggest.
Having last visited the winner's enclosure following a Class 1 success 371 days prior, Beauty Flame never could solve Able Friend thereafter, filling second spot in the G1 Stewards' Cup (1600m), the G1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) and the Chairman's Trophy (1600m) in April. Well down the field in his first two runs this preparation, the former Roca Tumu most recently set the pace in the Sha Tin Trophy H. Oct. 25, but weakened late to finish fourth behind Contentment.
Though the 5-year-old typically does his thing from the front, he was content to lay second when Able Friend's stablemate Secret Sham (Aus) (Shamardal) showed the most initiative, and that ultimately proved a winning strategy. Contentment raced in a handy third, while Able Friend, away a half-step slowly, was buried down inside with no way out nearer the back of the back. There was little change in the plot through the middle stages, although given the body language of most of the gallopers, the pace backed down noticeably on the turn. Secret Sham held the call at the head of the lane, but Beauty Flame was pulled out by Gerald Mosse and took command with a furlong and a half to race. Contentment had a clear shot and Able Friend tried to make ground up the inside, but he was left with simply too much to do off the race shape, and Beauty Flame proved not for catching. Contentment boxed back to claim second, while Designs On Rome (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), making his first start since fetlock surgery, closed his final quarter-mile in a race-fastest :21.80 for sixth. He'll attempt to defend in the Hong Kong Cup over the 2000 meters Dec. 13.
“I was expecting that, if I was not going to make the running, the John Moore horse [Secret Sham] would, so I didn't rush my horse and I got a perfect race,” said Mosse. “I just sat behind him and waited for the straight, like [trainer] Tony [Cruz] told me to do, and when I pressed the button he answered perfectly.”
John Moore was chalking up Able Friend's defeat to racing luck–or better put, lack thereof.
“People might put it down to a flat run but I'd put it down to circumstances–the pattern of the race and so forth. He'll be absolutely right for the Mile in December,” said the conditioner.
Saturday, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
BOCHK WEALTH MANAGEMENT JOCKEY CLUB MILE-G2, HK$4,000,000 (US$516,121), Sha Tin, 11-21, 3yo/up, 1600mT, 1:33.74, gd.
1–#@BEAUTY FLAME (IRE), 123, g, 5, by Footstepsinthesand+%28GB%29">Footstepsinthesand (GB)
1st Dam: Lucy Diamonds (Ire), by Orpen
2nd Dam: Lucy in the Sky (Ire), by Lycius
3rd Dam: Nazwa (Ire), by Tarboosh
(€7,500 Wlg '10 TINNOV). O-Kwok Siu Ming; B-Tommy Murphy; T-Tony Cruz; J-Gerald Mosse; HK$2,280,000. Lifetime Record: MG1SP-HK, 25-6-7-3. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Contentment (Aus), 123, g, 5, Hussonet–Jemison (Aus), by Commands (Aus). (A$65,000 Ylg '12 INGCLS). O-Benson Lo; B-P J Favretto; T-John Size; HK$880,000.
3–Able Friend (Aus), 128, g, 6, Shamardal–Ponte Piccolo (NZ), by Volksraad (GB). (A$550,000 Ylg '11 INGEAS). O-Dr & Mrs Cornel Li; B-Ramsey Pastoral Co Pty Ltd; T-John Moore; HK$460,000.[bullet ad=”irt-shell”]
Margins: 1 1/4, NK, 1. Odds: 36-1, 43-10, 2-5.
Also Ran: Giant Treasure, Packing Pins (NZ), Designs On Rome (Ire), Rewarding Hero (GB), Dan Excel (Ire), Secret Sham (Aus).
Click for the HKJC.com chart, HKJC.com PPs and VIDEO. Click for the Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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