BRINGING ASIAN RACING TO THE WORLD
It's a case of two in, two out as Voyage Bubble and La City Blanche break into our expert panel's top 14, while Tuchel is the big mover up the board after a tough first-up performance.
A big win by Tuchel has pushed the John Size-trained prospect up to number five in Asian Racing Report’s latest Hong Kong Derby Rankings.
Tuchel has spent time on the sidelines with lameness but burst back into prominence for the Derby when he beat home fellow four-year-old series aspirant Galaxy Witness in a 1400m Class 2. For his part the Caspar Fownes-trained Galaxy Witness has risen five spots in the rankings after catching the eye with a determined late close.
Both horses will now tackle the Hong Kong Classic Mile on January 29 and hope to push claims for the Hong Kong Derby in March.
Working their way into the top 14 for the first time are two other runners from a 1600m Class 3 on Sunday: La City Blanche (12) and Voyage Bubble (14).
This Argentinian import enters the Derby mix after a strong second-up performance at big odds on Sunday. La City Blanche was a dominant winner of the G1 Gran Premio Jockey Club over 2000m at San Iisidro and Sunday’s run at a mile was an encouraging sign of things to come. Coming to hand at the right time and no distance concerns.
This front-runner made his late bid for the Hong Kong Classic Mile via an all-the-way Class 3 victory at 1600m. Trainer Ricky Yiu, who bought Voyage Bubble for A$380,000 in 2020, made his intentions clear post-race, ”Front-running horses always have more of an advantage than the backmarkers,” he said of the Classic Mile.
There is some doubt about Voyage Bubble’s ability to match his follow four-year-olds over further but Yiu is keen to try. “We’ll go step by step and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets 2000 metres, but (we’ll concentrate on) a mile and 1800 metres first,” he said.
1. Packing Treadmill 包裝必勝 (93)
2. Beautyverse 美麗宇宙 (88)
3. Keefy 瑪瑙 (100)
4. Sweet Encounter 魅力知遇 (86)
5. Tuchel 自勝者強 (83) ⬆️
6. Sword Point 知足常樂 (84)
7. Flagship Warrior 旗幟鬥士 (84)
8. Galaxy Witness 喜旺駒 (84) ⬆️
9. Viva Chaleur 爆熱 (84)
10. Bon’s A Pearla 一代天嬌 (80)
11. Sinba 開心寶貝 (79)
12. La City Blanche 當年情 (80) 🚨⬆️
13. Drombeg Banner 飛鷹翱翔 (75)
14. Voyage Bubble 遨遊氣泡 (81) 🚨⬆️
Original Hong Kong Derby Rankings
Prophet’s post-mortem: Tuchel stakes Classic Series claim
