Voyage Bubble has sealed his ascent into Hong Kong’s elite class with emphatic victory in the HK$13 million Group 1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) at Sha Tin as James McDonald anointed Ricky Yiu’s flagbearer as an emerging star.
Providing Yiu with his first Group 1 triumph since Amber Sky’s 2014 Group 1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m), Voyage Bubble propelled McDonald to his sixth Hong Kong Group 1 spoil after stalking California Spangle and Beauty Eternal from third place before asserting his superiority with terminal acceleration from the 350m mark.
Improving his career record to six wins and six minor placings from 15 starts and prize money of HK$41.05 million, Voyage Bubble gave McDonald his second Hong Kong Group 1 score this season after Romantic Warrior’s Group 1 Hong Kong Cup (2000m) success.
“I was in a nice, controlling position where I felt like if the pace slackened – which it did – that I was in a free-rolling position and I had enough room around so that I could go when I wanted to go and it worked out perfectly,” McDonald said after Voyage Bubble downed Beauty Eternal by a length and a quarter with Beauty Joy another length away in third in 1m 33.97s.
“I’m very proud of this horse. He put in a fantastic run in the International Mile (Group 1 Hong Kong Mile, 1600m, when second to Golden Sixty) and backed it up today. There’s no heir apparent to Golden Sixty but we’re happy to be the next man jogging on the spot, so to speak, and we’re probably lucky the champ wasn’t there.”
Addressing Voyage Bubble’s future, McDonald said the 2023 Hong Kong Derby (2000m) and Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) winner had a host of options.
“He’s lightly-raced, he’s five, he’s at the peak of his powers. The world’s his oyster, really. They can go wherever they want to go, Australia, Dubai or Japan – I don’t know, I’ll leave that to the connections to see where he fits in against really good international competitors,” McDonald said before reconfirming he would partner Romantic Warrior in the Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) on February 25.
While Yiu is weighing up tilts at either the Group 1 Dubai Turf (1800m) at Meydan on March 30 or the Group 1 Doncaster Mile Handicap (1600m) at Randwick in Sydney on April 6, McDonald said there were plenty of opportunities in Hong Kong for Voyage Bubble.
“The beauty about Hong Kong racing is there are so many options there and with Golden Sixty being at the ripe old age he is, the baton needs to be changed eventually, and he might be the new kid on the block especially over 1400m to a mile and Hong Kong caters so well for that,” the New Zealander said.
“He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with here and a flagbearer for the horses here and I’m just looking forward to seeing where he fits in, obviously being such a young, progressive horse.
“The racing’s here is fantastic – so competitive and very fair – and to be lucky enough to partner such good horses, it’s an absolute privilege to be here. I enjoy coming in and as long as the Club allows me, I would be here in a heartbeat. Obviously, I’m very lucky to be falling on two very good horses in Voyage Bubble and Romantic Warrior and just see what happens next.”
Yiu said he was yet to commit fully to a plan with Voyage Bubble but ruled out a tilt at the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup, the second leg of Hong Kong’s Triple Crown.
“I’m really happy and really happy with the horse. He’s full of talent and he keeps improving. I’ve been waiting for some years (for a horse like this),” Yiu said.
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