BRENTON AVDULLA CONFIDENT CALIFORNIA SPANGLE CAN DELIVER GROUP ONE HAT-TRICK IN CHAIRMAN’S SPRINT PRIZE
- Australian jockey expects in-form speedster to prove hard to beat in Sunday's HK$22 million Champions Day feature
Brenton Avdulla is bullish about his prospects of landing a third straight Group One on California Spangle when he rides the top sprinter in Sunday's Chairman's Sprint Prize (1,200m) at Sha Tin.
The Australian jockey boasts a perfect strike rate on Tony Cruz's stable star after guiding him to brilliant victories in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) at Sha Tin and Al Quoz Sprint (1,200m) at Meydan.
The Starspangledbanner gelding has returned to his best since being switched to sprinting and teaming up with Avdulla, who hailed the last-start victory on Dubai World Cup night one of the highlights of his career.
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"I never thought in my first season in Hong Kong I'd link up with a horse like him and win a couple Group Ones on him," Avdulla said.
"He's been a pretty good horse to me already, so we'll see what we can do this weekend. To actually get over [to Dubai] and represent Hong Kong on the world stage was a massive thrill."
Avdulla is confident California Spangle has maintained his form from his strong on-speed display in the Al Quoz Sprint.
The 33-year-old also has no fears about a potential wet track on Sunday, pointing to California Spangle's Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup triumph on March 10. While the track was still rated good that day, it was impacted by showers in the lead up to the race.
"I don't think the rain's going to dampen his chances too much," Avdulla said. "He obviously handled a little bit of cut [out of the ground] when he won the 1,400m.
"He trialled [at Sha Tin] a couple of weeks ago after he got out of quarantine and I was happy enough with him, so I think he's in every bit as good a form as he was before he went over [to Dubai].
"I think if he holds his form he's definitely the one to beat. Since he's been back to the sprint ranks, if you look at his 1,200m form, he's a powerful horse."
Voyage Bubble will also make his return from Dubai - where he experienced contrasting fortunes to California Spangle - when he contests the Group One FWD Champions Mile on Sunday.
The Ricky Yiu Poon-fai-trained gelding was held up on the inside from barrier one and impacted by Catnip falling near him late when an unlucky 13th in the Group One Dubai Turf (1,800m).
After coming through the race with only minor scratches, Voyage Bubble will chase his second win at the top level after breaking through in the Stewards' Cup (1,600m) in January.
"He's just been ticking over and he seems to be enjoying being back home," Yiu said. "He still has a little bit of improvement in him. I expect him to run well again. I think if it was a normal soft track, he could handle it. If it's raining heavy during the day, that would be a different story.
"It doesn't look like there is a great deal of speed in the beginning. Most likely we'll have him where he's happy, in the first two or three."
Voyage Bubble could be set for another international trip after the Champions Mile, with Yiu entering him for the Group One Yasuda Kinen (1,600m) in Japan in June.
Hong Kong's other Dubai World Cup night representative, Straight Arron, will tackle Sunday's Group One QE II Cup (2,000m) after running a solid sixth in the Dubai Turf.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
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2024-04-27T04:48:33Z dg43tfdfdgfd
