Aussie jockey wins Hong Kong Sprint with Mr Stunning
LEADING Sydney jockey Nash Rawiller has won the Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Rawiller was all class as he guided Mr Stunning to a great win in the 1200m feature for ex-Aussie John Size, who is now one of the top trainers in Hong Kong.
Mr Stunning was given every opportunity by Rawiller settling nicely on the inside, with Peniaphobia making the early running.
“I thought there’d be more pressure than there was,” Rawiller said.
“I wasn’t too worried about them chasing me down. I was on the best horse at the equal weight. It’s been a long time coming this one in Hong Kong, so it means a lot.”
D B Pin finished strongly with Olivier Doleuze in the saddle to claim second, with just a long neck between the two. Blizzard and Gerald Mosse run on well to claim third.
Mr Stunning won the race in a time of 1 min 8.4 sec to give Rawiller a great early Christmas present with his mount the $2.15 bookies’ elect.
Another Aussie Hugh Bowman guided Lucky Bubbles into fourth, despite no luck in the running, and the race failing to pan out the way he had anticipated.
“A really nice run in transit, but we had to wait a bit longer than I wanted, though I don’t think we could have finished much closer,” he said.
“It was another brave effort and a really nice run.”
It was a third successive victory for Mr Stunning at Sha Tin with Rawiller steering each one of them, with a last loss coming in the National Day Sprint over 1000m with Joao Moreira in the saddle, first up this preparation on October 1.
Connections of Mr Stunning pocketed just over HK $4 million for their efforts with the race worth $18.5 million in total.
What the jockeys said after the race
1st – MR STUNNING – Nash Rawiller
“I thought there’d be more pressure than there was. I wasn’t too worried about them chasing me down. I was on the best horse at the equal weight. It’s been a long time coming this one in Hong Kong, so it means a lot.”
2nd – D B PIN – Olivier Doleuze
“I am sad, but happy. I was very confident – last time I could not really test him but today he has run against an impressive horse and has run a great race. He gave me everything, but the winner just held on. Mine has a future and I hope he might go to Dubai next year.”
3rd – BLIZZARD – Gerald Mosse
“He ran very well, I’m very pleased with him. He’s a lovely horse and he tries, he gives everything. He’s coming on now, he’s getting stronger and stronger. He hit the line well but was beaten by two superstars.”
4th – LUCKY BUBBLES – Hugh Bowman
“A really nice run in transit, but we had to wait a bit longer than I wanted, though I don’t think we could have finished much closer. It was another brave effort and a really nice run.”
5th – AMAZING KIDS – Brett Prebble
“I had a lovely run – I followed the second horse and thought I had a real winning chance but there is something holding him back.”
6th – LET’S GO DONKI – Yasunari Iwata
“We missed the break.”
7th – THEWIZARDOFOZ – Joao Moreira
“He had a beautiful run through. He was not just good enough to challenge today and was probably a bit disappointing.”
8th – THE RIGHT MAN – Francois-Xavier Bertras
“The game was up from the moment we got that draw. They go so fast at the start here and whereas in Dubai, I was able to work back into it I had to wait in behind rather than go six wide. He finished off well.”
9th – PENIAPHOBIA – Matthew Chadwick
“His connections wanted me to try to lead so I had to use him more than I would have liked. He’s getting older now….and he threw in the towel when others came past him.”
10th – NOT LISTENIN’TOME – Tommy Berry
“He is getting on in age now. He runs a good race when fresh now but is probably feeling his old legs now.”
11th – STORMY LIBERAL – Silvestre de Sousa
“He was a little flat and might have been feeling the effects of the trip.”
12th – ONCE IN A MOON – Zac Purton
“Peniaphobia ruined any chance we have.”
13th – SIGNS OF BLESSING – Stephane Pasquier
“I have no real explanation. We missed the break but I was able to get in behind the winner quite quickly but when we straightened up, he couldn’t accelerate. It was an off day and we know he’s better than that.”