Helene Paragon scores long-awaited Group 1 Stewards’ Cup win
THE confidence shown by trainer John Moore was franked on Monday when Helene Paragon secured its first major success in the Group 1 Stewards’ Cup at Sha Tin.
The five-year-old son of Polan had been close in three runs this campaign which included a second placing in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile behind Beauty Only, but it was Helene Paragon’s night to shine.
Australian jockey Tommy Berry positioned Helene Paragon in the middle of the pack, in between runners, and as the likes of Werther and Able Friend were pocketed in the straight, Berry was able to find clear running room to sprint past the well-backed Contentment over the final 200m.
The early pace was set up by both Contentment, which was backed in from $21 to $13 at Bet365, and also Beauty Flame which wasn’t able to sustain the hot speed up front. Helene Paragon was able to work into the clear for Berry and strike just as others were getting into trouble.
2016 Hong Kong Derby champion Werther was cramped for room along the inside of runners, but the run was encouraging after returning from injury. Trainer John Moore was quietly confident heading into the race with Werther and his confidence wouldn’t have taken a hit.
“Of course there is a lot of expectation any time you have a Horse of the Year returning, especially when he has rated so highly with his performances,” Moore said earlier this week.
“But the jury is out with regard to injury, so there is an element of wait and see. But he is a very clean-winded horse, like Rapper Dragon, and maybe is the type of horse that could just come out and do something that could surprise some people.”
For the winner, however, it was a long overdue success at group one level in Hong Kong. Connections and punters who took the $2.90 at CrownBet were confident of a good showing and they weren’t disappointed with the classy victory.
Joyful Trinity ran into second late and Able Friend overcame some traffic issues to flash home for third, giving John Moore a stable trifecta.
Contentment added its fourth consecutive fourth placing after sitting on the speed throughout.
The second leg of the Hong Kong Triple Crown is the Hong Kong Gold Cup in February where Designs On Rome could be headed for a third consecutive win, but all eyes will be on its stablemate Helene Paragon which has certainly taken a big step forward in its career on Monday night.
Earlier in the night Peniaphobia scored an impressive win in the Group 2 Centenary Sprint Cup. The Tony Cruz-trained star held out the strong challenge from $1.50 favourite Lucky Bubbles, which again was unable to reel in the leaders in a major race.
Six-year-old Peniaphoboa hadn’t won since May of last year, but the significant drop in weight from 60.3kg last start to 54.8kg on Monday night proved to be the difference.
Former Australian sprinter Not Listenin’tome finished well into third for Tommy Berry, who would later capture the feature of the night with Helene Paragon.