Cover image courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Sensationally speedy Tomodachi Kokoroe
Only one horse has run faster at Sha Tin over 1200 metres than Sunday night’s G2 Premier Cup winner Tomodachi Kokoroe (Written Tycoon) and it’s his stablemate Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}). The world's fastest sprinter set the track record at Sha Tin in the start prior to winning Australia's The Everest.
The David Hayes-trained 7-year-old gelding Tomodachi Kokoroe is flying this season with three wins from as many starts. It’s a massive resurgence in form, as the gelding hadn’t won since February 2024 before this current run of victories. The Group 2 victory means he becomes stakes winner number 81 for Champion Australian Sire Written Tycoon.
“He runs time, so you can’t ignore that,” Hayes told hkjc.com about the 1.07.39s win.
“If he gets a good run in a big race, he’ll run well. He’ll probably run in the traditional (December meeting) lead-up race.” Hayes referred to the G2 Jockey Club Sprint on November 23, with the International meeting to be run on December 14.
“He’ll run on that day. And whether he runs against Ka Ying (Rising), we’ll see how Ka Ying does when he gets out of quarantine.”
Tomodachi Kokoroe was ridden by Harry Bentley and Hayes praised the ride. “Sometimes you paint a race map that you pray your horse will get, and Harry (Bentley) put him in that spot. Harry wasn’t happy with the run he gave him last time, but was shocked by how he fought and held on. And then when he gave him a good run, like first up, he’s killed it. That was a 10-out-of-10 ride.”
Originally sold by Glastonbury Farm for $175,000 to UHC at the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale, Tomodachi Kokoroe placed at three in Bendigo, when named Bank Bank Bank. He then went through an Inglis Digital Sale in March 2022 when R Ludwig purchased him for $25,000.
Tomodachi Kokoroe as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
He was transferred to Northern Queensland where he won six in succession as a late 3-year-old and early 4-year-old. Exported to Hong Kong, he took a year before he won again, but now has 13 wins from 43 starts and earnings of AU$84,150 and HK$16,051,920 (AU$3.2 million).
One of four winners for unplaced Fastnet Rock mare Rainbeam, Tomodachi Kokoroe is from the family of Hong Kong’s six-time stakes winner Scintillation (Danehill {USA}).
Brazilian Group 1 winner headed to Classic series
G1 Derby Paulista winner Sagacious Life (Brz) (Put It Back (USA}) shocked punters with a victory over a mile for trainer Pierre Ng. Ridden by seven-pound claiming apprentice Britney Wong, Sagacious Life will head to the first leg of the series, the Listed Classic Mile on February 1.
“It’s a long way to come. He trialled well over 1000 metres and 1200 metres and in a mile trial in Conghua, he was superb. Today we were looking for prizemoney and he actually won,” Ng told hkjc.com. The 4-year-old gelding won four of his six starts in Brazil before heading to Hong Kong.
“We have (the Hong Kong Derby) in the back of our minds. Now he’ll get some points, that will be his target.”
Sagacious Life (Brz) | Image courtesy of The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Sagacious Life, who raced as Navio Fantasma in Brazil, also won his connections a PP Bonus worth HK$3 million (AU$590,000) to take his Hong Kong earnings to HK$4.74 million (AU$930,000). He is the last known foal of winning mare Quatro Islas (Brz) (Trempolino {USA}) who also produced Listed winner Discreto Belo (Brz) (Signal Tap {USA}).
Ng trained a double on the night with On The Lash (NZ) (Savabeel) winning the opening race. The win was the first one for the 5-year-old gelding who has had 16 starts in Hong Kong.
Ever Luck thrills punters on debut
Smashed by punters from $9 into $2.80 thanks to plenty of hype around a trial win before his debut outing, Mark Newnham-trained 3-year-old gelding Ever Luck (Capitalist) gave those same punters a heart attack when wayward in the straight for jockey James Orman. He dragged the horse outside him, Georgian Sigma (Shalaa {Ire}) out with him, and the pair dropped back in the field. Both rattled home strongly with Ever Luck winning by 1.75 lengths from Georgian Sigma.
The connections of Georgian Sigma protested, but stewards kept the result as they crossed the line. When asked if he was worried about the protest, Newnham said, “Not once I saw the drone shot, which I’m pleased we have now, because the horses didn’t actually make any contact.
“The second horse actually ran away from my horse – my horse didn’t take the corner well but the other horse was a bit intimidated by it, being both their first starts, and he ran out as well. But he held him safely in the straight.
“I would have been very confident if he’d drawn one to five but when you draw out there you’re in the lap of the gods. Funnily enough though, this season we’ve won four races from gate 14, so I’ve got to stop complaining.
“When he crossed so easily I thought he’d win, similar to his trial in Conghua, but when he didn’t take that corner it did have me a little worried. But once he straightened up and got his balance, he showed in the last 200 metres that he’s quite a decent horse and he’s got a good future.”
Newnham leads the Trainers’ Premiership with 18 victories for the season after 14 meetings. Ever Luck was purchased by N Lee from Segenhoe Stud’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale draft for $300,000 and is a half-brother to Listed winners Deel Her In (Dundeel {NZ}) and Usmanov (Choisir).
Ever Luck as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
“He’s in his own company, they’re 3-year-old PPG horses so they’re all inexperienced and that’s what you get,” he said.
“If he’d have run in a regular Class 4 race, he probably doesn’t win. You can’t make those mistakes and beat horses who have had 20, 30 or 40 starts. Whereas here in this grade you can make a couple of mistakes and still be okay.
“He’s quite an immature horse so he’ll have a fairly easy season this year and we’ll just let him progress gradually. I think he’ll keep developing physically and mentally and there’s no doubt he’s got a good future.”
His dam, Mining Tycoon (Redoute’s Choice) had a colt by Harry Angel (Ire) this spring. She is a city-winning half-sister to Group 1 winner Bentley Biscuit (Peintre Celebre {USA}). Capitalist has crossed superbly well with mares from the Danehill sireline with 11 of his 14 Group winners carrying that cross. All up, Capitalist has 27 stakes winners with Group 2 winner Comrade Rosa and Listed winner Ka Bling both out of Redoute’s Choice mares.
Orman’s first double for the season
Queensland jockey James Orman enjoyed his first double of the season when also winning on Manfred Man-trained Bright Day (Starcraft {NZ}). “It was good. I only had four rides, but I did think these two were both good chances and it was good to make the most of it and get a double,” Orman told scmp.com.
“Hopefully I can keep rolling – everyone knows how tough it is to get rides, especially for a heavyweight who can only ride 123lb. But I love it here and I’m enjoying it.” He has had four wins this season.
Bright Day moved from Macau to Hong Kong in October 2024 and this was his first win here. He won twice in Macau, and previously won twice in South Australia at three when named Who’s Clang.
