‘Genius' Voyage Bubble bags Triple Crown with remarkable Champions & Chater Cup success

South China Morning Post

25-05-2025

Ricky Yiu Poon-fai's dreams came true at Sha Tin on Sunday as Voyage Bubble snared the Group One Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) and became just the second winner of Hong Kong's illustrious Triple Crown.
It was a sparkling performance from the now five-time top-level scorer, who always travelled ominously well in midfield under James McDonald.
The race began in earnest when Zac Purton made a back-straight move on Ensued, which saw him range up alongside Dubai Honour and long-time leader Moments In Time and force the pace forward.
Off the turn, it was Dubai Honour and Ensued who went on, but the eye was always drawn to Voyage Bubble, who surged to the front doing cartwheels at the 300m pole and drew off to win by as far as he pleased ahead of Rubylot, who charged into second late on.
UNBELIEVABLE! 🤯
31 years since River Verdon won the #TripleCrown for the first time, Hong Kong has a second winner of the series in Voyage Bubble, who makes light work of his Champions & Chater Cup rivals... 🏆🏆🏆@WorldPool | @mcacajamez | #HKracing pic.twitter.com/bIP5MwdPxa — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) May 25, 2025
Trainer Yiu was on cloud nine after his superstar became only the second winner of the Triple Crown, with Voyage Bubble bagging the HK$10 million bonus 31 years after River Verdon's historic first.
'Dreams came true – since I won the first two legs of the Triple Crown I started dreaming. Now today, dreams have come true. It's amazing,' said Yiu about a horse who has long been close to his heart.
'I was so worried that I couldn't buy him. I didn't have enough money to buy him and couldn't afford him. I rang up Hong Kong to get a better budget as I didn't want to lose him – it was love at first sight.
'The closer I looked at the race today, the closer I thought he would have a winning chance – he's done so well and his preparation was so good.
'I didn't want to tie [James McDonald] up with any riding instructions – he could just press the button and go.'
The memories of Voyage Bubble's $1.6 defeat in the Group One Champions Mile (1,600m) are long in the wing mirrors, with the extra distance looking crucial to him now.
For Yiu, his future looks to be beyond the mile, which could see him clash with Romantic Warrior in a mouth-watering rematch.
'He's pure athletic, if you look at him you can tell he's a high-class racehorse,' said Yiu. 'He's performed from a sprint to the maximum distance in Hong Kong – he's a genius.
'When we first ran him over 1,200m and 1,400m it was like a game for him. This is a real task. The 2,000m or even more seems to be an easier task for him. He won by a big margin over those trips – with a mile it's slightly competitive for him.'
It was not just Yiu who was left in dreamland, with jockey McDonald also feeling spellbound by his superstar partner.
'I'm so lucky to be riding him and he's just a brilliant racehorse. He just does everything you ask of him and he's so willing. He was on song today and I just felt very lucky to be riding him. He's just such a star,' said McDonald.
'I couldn't have dreamed of it panning out as well as that – that's once in a blue moon. The stars aligned and with that sort of run, he was always going to be hard to beat. He was going to be hard to beat even without such a good run, but it all worked out.
'He just switches off and allows himself to get the distance so well and I just want to pay credit to the Yiu stable – they've done a remarkable job with this horse.
'It's a great training effort – a mile to 2,400m. They're absolutely incredible. They've got a champion racehorse on their hands and he deserves all the accolades he gets. It's awesome. I'm very proud of him.'