Latest news with #ElVencedor
NZ Herald
27-04-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Kiwi star's manners cost him in Hong Kong mega-money race
El Vencedor had a tricky lead-up week in Hong Kong, with a hoof abscess bursting out, but most of the horses who beat him home may simply be better than him. That is how tough Group 1 races on the international stage are but the trip, added on as a bonus race after a wonderful season at home, was worth the gamble. And it won't stop El Vencedor almost certainly winning NZ Horse of the Year later this year. On a tough weekend for New Zealand horses chasing overseas riches there was still a boost for the local breeding industry when Kiwi-bred and educated superstar Ka Ying Rising destroyed his opposition in the Chairman's Sprint to cement his claims as the best sprinter in the world. He cruised along in fifth spot for Purton and was only given his head at the 300m mark yet treated his rivals with distain, winning eased down. This imposing beast is now the $2.10 with the TAB to win The Everest, a race run in another country still nearly six months away. That is how giant a shadow he casts over the sprinting world. While he started an amazing money back on the tote, meaning no profit for a winning tote bet, the day's other Group 1 winner couldn't have been more extreme, with Red Lion paying $90 taking out the Champions Mile. He and jockey Hugh Bowman had to survive a protest lodged by Kiwi jockey McDonald, who argued the bump his horse Voyage Bubble from Red Lion copped 30m from the line cost him in the race. The stewards didn't agree and the protest was dismissed, giving Bowman plenty of verbal fodder for the next time he plays golf with McDonald, one of his best friends. Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald's Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world's biggest horse racing carnivals.
NZ Herald
26-04-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Kiwi horse El Vencedor races in Hong Kong's prestigious QEII Cup
But slowly as El Vencedor has ticked the right boxes this week, Marsh and his team have started to believe. First the big boy got over a hoof abscess and finally stopped gawking around at Sha Tin's imposing surroundings. Then co-owner David Price snared the the perfect barrier 1 at Thursday's draw and local riding hero Zac Purton has been pleased with his work. Tick, tick and tick. But at 8.40pm NZ time tonight the dreams and belief will meet reality: Does EV really have the class to beat some of the best horses in the world? 'I am more confident than I have been at any part of the exercise,' Marsh told the Herald. 'We know it is a huge ask and I am not saying I am confident he will win because it is so hard to line up the form. 'But barrier 1 is a huge help with the short run to the first turn, we have Zac and the horse is spot on now. 'We all know how brave he is and I am confident he will be in it for a long way. 'We will be proud of him regardless of what happens because it is a privilege to be up here representing New Zealand.' El Vencedor is rated around a $10 chance but the New Zealand TAB, quite rightly, as part if its agreement with the Hong Kong Jockey Club doesn't offer fixed odds betting on Hong Kong races. What price El Vencedor starts on the tote tonight will be a fascinating sub plot to the race, especially with the Purton factor. Almost as fascinating for most Kiwi punters who have never seen him will be the parade of Goliath, which borders on cartoonish. He has a rare condition called Stringhalt, which causes him to raise his near hind leg abnormally high and stomp it down when he walks. You would swear it must bother him but the French-trained star won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, one of England's best races, last year so clearly it doesn't. While El Vencedor will need to reach a new career peak to even place tonight earlier success for the New Zealand breeding industry looks far more assured when Ka Ying Rising attempts to rubber stamp his credentials as the world's best sprinter in the Chairman's Sprint. The giant speed machine who started his career with Central Districts trainer Fraser Auret, is red hot to win in the hands of Purton and then be set for The Everest at Randwick in October. Like El Vencedor he is perfectly drawn and anything but another victory will be the only thing that could silence the giant Sha Tin crowd today. Mr Brightside is the Kiwi connection in the Champions Mile, the gelding who started his career in New Zealand rated the second favourite behind local star mile Voyage Bubble. Voyage Bubble will be ridden by ex-pat James McDonald, so some sort of New Zealand flavour in the winner's circle looks likely after the Mile.
NZ Herald
25-04-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Racing: Champion jockey Craig Williams confident in Crocetti for $5.36m Quokka
'The good New Zealand sprinters are coming across to Australia and doing a job and I think he can, too. Overpass is clearly the one to beat but I think Crocetti can be right up there.' Williams has a good line on the form, as he rode Crocetti's rival in New Zealand's major sprints this summer, Alabama Lass, to win a A$500,000 ($536,000) Listed race at Flemington last month. 'Good horses are good horses wherever they come from, and Danny [Walker, trainer] is happy with the horse, so I think we might surprise a few people.' Straight after tonight's race, Williams will board a plane to Hong Kong, where he has seven rides at FWD Champions Day, including Mr Brightside in the HK$24m ($5.16m) Champions Mile. It will be the international debut of the Kiwi-bred and educated Mr Brightside and a chance to put an exclamation mark on his career. 'I just love the horse, how could you not? I've ridden more Group 1 wins on him than any other horse and he gives you his all every time he goes to the races. 'Mr Brightside looks well equipped to handle Sha Tin's unique demands, as he has the tactical speed to use barrier 2, with his toughest rival local Voyage Bubble for expat jockey James McDonald. 'They're both very good horses and it won't be easy to beat him [Voyage Bubble] on his home track but Mr B is a special horse and he looks fantastic.' Williams will also partner Hong Kong Derby winner Cap Ferrat against El Vencedor in the HK$28m ($6.02m) QEII Cup. That makes for a long weekend for the leading Australian jockeys such as Williams and McDonald, who ride on Saturday, fly to Hong Kong and then ride late in the meeting on Sunday. 'It is busy but you just have to manage your schedule,' Williams says. 'I took Friday off riding because I knew how big a weekend I had coming up. But we're very privileged to be able to do it. 'We race Saturday, go to the airport, do some form study, have a sleep on the plane and you wake up close to landing in Hong Kong. 'Then I often get an hour's sleep at the hotel and then adrenalin gets you through the rest of the day.' Meanwhile, Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh, who trains El Vencedor, will have his eyes fixed closer to home on Saturday, with a huge team at Te Rapa. Marsh has been thrilled with El Vencedor's progress in Hong Kong after a slight hoof issue this week and was buzzing after the big horse drew barrier 1 in Sunday's 2000m Group 1. 'Everything that has needed to happen this week has happened and the draw gives him a real hope,' says Marsh. He has four starters in Saturday's $100,000 Windsor Park Breeders' Stakes at Te Rapa and was stunned when told Velocious had opened at $7.50. 'I thought she would be favourite on her record and last-start win and that's a great price for her. 'She had her final fast work on Wednesday and it was super, and her and Adalio are our two best hopes in what will be a really good race.' The Te Rapa meeting also hosts the $150,000 Travis Stakes, which looks a tricky puzzle for punters, with so many different form lines. Saturday's other domestic meeting at Riccarton boasts three black-type races, headed by the $120,000 Canterbury Gold Cup, in which veteran Harlech is beautifully suited by the weight-for-age conditions but perhaps not so much the potentially heavy track. Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald's Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world's biggest horse racing carnivals
South China Morning Post
25-04-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Japanese trio ready to make hay while Romantic Warrior is away
The last time the Group One QE II Cup (2,000m) was run without the Hong Kong superstar, gallopers from the Land of the Rising Sun filled the first four placings The last time the Group One QE II Cup (2,000m) was run without Romantic Warrior, brilliant mare Loves Only You headed up a Japanese first four in the richest of the three FWD Champions Day features. This Sunday, it's very possible gallopers from the Land of the Rising Sun fill the trifecta. In 2021, Loves Only You led Glory Vase, Daring Tact and Kiseki over the line to not only complete a Japanese domination of that year's edition of the QE II Cup but also continue an impressive run of three victories in five years for the country. Now, with three-time QE II Cup champion Romantic Warrior enjoying a breather after a demanding campaign in the Middle East, three gallopers who know what it's like to chase home the world's highest-earning racehorse will get their chance to shine in his absence. Liberty Island and Tastiera, who filled the placings behind Romantic Warrior in December's Group One Hong Kong Cup (2,000m), are firmly in the market, while Prognosis – runner-up in the past two QE II Cups – is also among the leading hopes. While they must beat French heavyweight Goliath, New Zealand's El Vencedor and local runners Rubylot and Cap Ferrat, among others, the Japanese trio have the form on the board in Hong Kong and look poised to continue their country's strong association with the race. Joao Moreira, who snared the 2017 QE II Cup for Japan aboard Neorealism, is expecting the Japanese contingent to be 'very hard to beat'. While the star Brazilian jockey will ride rank outsider Moments In Time in the HK$28 million feature, he's spent plenty of time riding in Japan recently and he has a big opinion of a horse he has previously ridden on race day. 'I saw Tastiera this morning and he looked stunning and shining. On my pick, I think he will be the horse to beat, but racing is racing and you never know what is going to happen,' said the Magic Man. While the QE II Cup honour roll is littered with successful overseas raiders, Moreira's mount Satono Reve and three other Japanese speedsters are looking to become only the second international winners of the Group One Chairman's Sprint Prize (1,200m) after Australia's Chautauqua. It's a similar story in the Group One Champions Mile, with leading overseas hope Mr Brightside looking to buck a trend that has seen only Variety Club (2014) and Maurice (2016) deny the locals in the race's 24-year existence. El Vencedor ticking along nicely Zac Purton and James McDonald have been trading blows at the pointy end of Hong Kong's biggest races for some time now and the star Australian will look to get one up on his Kiwi rival by spearing New Zealand-trained rival El Vencedor to victory in Sunday's QE II Cup. While El Vencedor, who shrugged off a hoof abscess earlier this week, proved difficult for Purton to kick into gear on Thursday morning, his eventual work over 1,200m on the turf pleased trainer Stephen Marsh. 'All happy. It was good to have Zac on today to get a feel for him. As you can see, he has got a massive grandstand to look at here and it took him a little while to get going but once he got going, he is still not fully concentrating,' said Marsh of El Vencedor, who drew barrier one at Thursday's draw. 'Now he has had that good look, it will bring him on beautifully and that's all he really wanted.'
South China Morning Post
22-04-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
New Zealand star El Vencedor on track for Group One QE II Cup after overcoming hoof abscess
Trainer Stephen Marsh believes Kiwi galloper's preparation for Champions Day has not been impacted by a minor setback New Zealand trainer Stephen Marsh is confident El Vencedor has shrugged off a hoof abscess and will be at his peak for Sunday's Group One QE II Cup (2,000m) at Sha Tin. The four-time Group One winner was restricted to light work in the quarantine trotting ring from last Friday to Monday after undergoing treatment for lameness in his left hind leg. Bronte Forbes, the Jockey Club's Head of the Department of Veterinary Regulation, Welfare and Biosecurity, inspected El Vencedor on Monday and cleared him to complete trackwork on Tuesday morning. The six-year-old did some light work on the all-weather track, pleasing his handler ahead of his tilt at Sunday's HK$28 million feature. That is really special. What a last 200m! But he's electric and it's the big EV with the big motor fought and fought. In honour of Big Red, El Vencedor wins the Bonecrusher Stakes from @Ellerslie_Races. Ridden by Wiremu Pinn, and it's back to back Group 1s for @marshracing — Trackside NZ (@TracksideNZ) March 8, 2025 'Very happy with him,' Marsh said after watching El Vencedor's work on Tuesday. 'He just had a little minor abscess in a hind foot, but he's been working in the quarantine sand and he's out on the track today moving beautifully and freely. 'It took a bit to get past the big screens – I don't think he'd seen himself on a big screen before, but he's great. He'll gallop on Thursday, Zac [Purton] will ride him on the turf and I think we're right on track.' El Vencedor brings career-best form to Hong Kong with four consecutive wins, including three at Group One level – the Herbie Dyke Stakes (2,000m), Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (1,600m) and Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2,000m). The big EV with the big motor. in the Gr.1 @SportNationNZ Otaki-Maori WFA Classic from @ellerslie, it is El Vencedor who wins it! Ridden by Wiremu Pinn and trained by @marshracing What a race. What a horse. That's simply special. Proud he'll be representing NZ in Hong Kong 🇳🇿🇭🇰 — Trackside NZ (@TracksideNZ) February 22, 2025 While he faces a tough task against fellow internationals such as French star Goliath and Japan's Liberty Island and Prognosis, El Vencedor has the advantage of being ridden by seven-time champion Hong Kong jockey Zac Purton. 'He's the King of Hong Kong, you'd say, and it's brilliant to have him on,' Marsh said of Purton. 'One of the owners' friends is good friends with Zac, so they got in touch with him early on and he was more than happy to take the ride a fair way out. 'He'd done the form on the horse and felt he might be the right kind of horse to ride, so it's great when he's got confidence in you.' Chasing his second QE II Cup success after booting home Exultant in 2020, Purton is optimistic El Vencedor can bring his hot form to Hong Kong. 'He's been racing really well, very consistently at a high level going left and right-handed and he can handle different types of ground, so he's versatile,' Purton said. 'Hopefully he can draw a nice gate and roll forward and if he has to lead, he leads. If something else wants to go, he's able to take a sit. It's nice to pick him up, I'm happy to be on him and to give him a chance.' El Vencedor will be the first international runner for 44-year-old Marsh, who has prepared more than 1,000 winners and is the son of Bruce Marsh, a Melbourne Cup-winning jockey and successful Singapore-based trainer.
