The Michael Hickmott-trained Fancify ($7.00) has made every post a winner in the Group 3 Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon, justifying the strong support with horse racing bookmakers prior to the jump.
Punters identified the son of Niagara as the logical leader in the event, and with on speed gallopers gaining an advantage throughout the day, it was no surprise to see Joe Bowditch storm across to the early lead from barrier 11.
Tiz Invincible ($19.00) was quick to lob onto the leaders back from gate six, while James McDonald and Konasana ($8.50) got the run of the race after crossing into the one-one from stall 10.
The race never really changed complexion, with Fancify giving a bold kick at the top of the straight, and although Tiz Invincible and Konasana were making strong inroads late, they were simply no match for Fancify who kept on kicking in the concluding stages.
2024 HKJC Stakes Replay – Fancify
Michael Hickmott made the trip to Flemington to represent the stable and spoke post-race.
“I’m not going to apologise for getting excited,” Hickmott said.
“If you can’t get excited watching your horses win, you shouldn’t be doing it.”
“Geez that’s a thrill. We’ve got some wonderful owners in the horse, Mr Andy Yao purchased the horse before she won at Flemington a few runs ago and he’s a new investor in my stable.
“It’s going to be hopefully a beautiful building partnership when we go forward together.
“We gave her (Fancify) a relatively wide order and gave her a good spell. I elected not to bring her here on Guineas Day, and really just thought stay at home, give her a good run there and she’ll peak second up.
“Shout out to my entire team at home. We’ve got a big property there that we’re building into a private training centre and taking a lot of work.
“Big shout out to everyone right from the ground up who does all the work at home for us to come here on days like today because, jeez, that’s a bloody thrill.”
Joe Bowditch was quick to praise the Hickmott stable and suggested ridding a winner on Cup Day will go down as one of his career highlights.
“It was a good win the other day and I said to Michael (Hickmott) that it was my feeling that she still had plenty of improvement in her,” he said.
“Michael agreed and said she had trained on really well even though she set a track record, I still thought she’d improve.
“Very good trainer, Michael. He obviously identified that she could improve. Probably needed the run the other day, a bit, as well. Very good today.
“I’ve ridden at the highest level before and won Group Ones, but it’s nice to come here and do it in front of 90,000 people, especially in Group racing and especially for Michael, who I’ve known since he was probably 12 or 13 years old.
“We’ve been mates all that time; I’ve ridden winners for him, his dad, his brother. So, to get one for him on Cup day, it just means the world.”
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