Written by Kit Gow
Cover image courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club
A G1 Golden Slipper Stakes winner one day, a Hong Kong Derby winner the next. There's no stopping the progeny of Arrowfield Stud's living legend, whose son Cap Ferrat broke his maiden in the HK$26 million event on Sunday.
Arrowfield Stud’s Snitzel continued his stellar weekend on Sunday with the exploits of 4-year-old Cap Ferrat in the HK$26 million Hong Kong Derby. Trained by last season’s Hong Kong Champion Trainer Francis Liu, the gelding was breaking his maiden in the event, after several near misses in stakes company in Australia.
Jockey Craig Williams, fresh from winning the G3 Don Casboult Classic with Clean Energy (Zoustar) on Saturday, flew out for the meet and guided Cap Ferrat to victory in the third leg of the 4-year-old series.
Jumping well from barrier two, Cap Ferrat settled behind the leader, finding the rail quickly and letting pacemaker Lo Rider (GB) (Harzand {Ire}) tow him into the race. Once the pack straightened out of the home turn, the gelding was asked to quicken by Williams, and was able to sneak around Lo Rider, who couldn’t match Cap Ferrat’s pace.
A late challenge came from Mark Newnham’s My Wish (Flying Artie), who was last coming into the home straight and put in an impressive burst of speed - but Cap Ferrat stuck it out in the end to get the better of My Wish by a tiny margin.
“He’s never won a race until this day,” Williams said post-race. “Full credit has to go to Francis Liu’s team, the owners have really put their trust in Francis. I rode him three weeks ago and I said, ‘you’ve got a lot of work to do’.
“I thought he was really gross, he was really full of himself. I said, ‘it’s a big step, I think he can place well in the Derby, but the way he got presented here today by Francis Liu is the reason why we are winning one of Hong Kong’s greatest races, if not the greatest one.”
“... the way he (Cap Ferrat) got presented here today by Francis Liu is the reason why we are winning one of Hong Kong’s greatest races, if not the greatest one.” - Craig Williams
Turning his attention to Cap Ferrat himself, Williams praised him, “you’ve broken your maiden in the Derby, good boy.”
He added, “it’s great to be riding all around the world, Hong Kong is a place where I was very fortunate to get contracts, and they made me the rider and the person I am today. It's lovely to win the race for Francis Lui, as he was a big supporter of mine going back 20 years ago. The winning feeling doesn't get any sweeter."
Craig Williams salutes the crowd as he returns to scale aboard Cap Ferrat | Image courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club
“I’m very excited,” said Liu, who previously won the race with Golden Sixty (Medaglia d'Oro {USA}) in 2020. “I can’t say I was confident (coming into the Derby), but he’s a very good horse. The last two runs, he had a bad draw, and he was caught wide.”
Williams came out to ride the gelding in his previous start, and Liu credited the jockey’s ability and experience with the horse on helping achieve the win, “of course, he (Cap Ferrat) wasn’t in the finish yet, but Craig got the experience and he knew much more about the horse.
“I watched (the race) on the television and there were a few times (in the run) that I was confident he would win.”
Bred by Arrowfield Stud and Belford Productions, Cap Ferrat is out of Listed Laelia Stakes winner C’Est Beau La Vie (Bernadini {USA}), and was a $1.4 million purchase at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale for Tom Magnier, before privately purchased for Hong Kong.
A full brother to Cap Ferrat will be offered at Easter in April as Lot 312, and C'Est Beau La Vie delivered another full brother in the spring, before visiting Dundeel (NZ).
Cap Ferrat as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
Listed-placed as a juvenile, the gelding was Group-placed several times as a 3-year-old, running third in the G3 Gloaming Stakes by 0.54l to Raf Attack (NZ) (Satono Aladdin {Jpn}) and then capturing second behind Tom Kitten (Harry Angel {Ire}) in the G1 Spring Champion Stakes. In the autumn of his 3-year-old year, he added a tough 1.08l third in the G1 Rosehill Guineas behind Riff Rocket (American Pharaoh {USA}).
Brought to the stable of Liu as still a maiden, he was narrowly beaten on debut in Hong Kong, before two unplaced runs in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile and Hong Kong Classic Cup.
Cap Ferrat marks back-to-back winners of the Hong Kong Derby that have been sold to the jurisdiction by Coolmore; 2024’s winner Massive Sovereign (Ire) (No Nay Never {USA}) was a €620,000 ($1.07 million) purchase for M V Magnier from Camas Park Stud at the Goffs Ireland Orby Yearling Sale, before private sale to Hong Kong.
Full coverage of the Hong Kong Derby meeting will be included in the next edition.
