VENGEANCE OF RAIN DIES AT CAMBRIDGE STUD

By Hong Kong Jockey Club | Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The 2007/08 Hong Kong Lifetime Achievement Award winner Vengeance Of Rain died today at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand, where he was born and to which he had been retired in February 2008. He was 11 years old.

The 2006/07 Horse of the Year, Champion Stayer and Most Popular Horse of the Year covered himself with glory on the international scene as well as at home in Hong Kong where he was Champion Middle Distance Horse and Champion Stayer in 2004/05, the season in which he won the HKG1 Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby, the G1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup and the HKG1 Champions & Chater Cup.

In December 2005 he also won the G1 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup, a triumph that clinched for him the 2005 World Racing Championship, and his other home victories included the 2007 HKG1 Hong Kong Gold Cup.

Perhaps his greatest moment came, however, in March 2007 when, at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai, he saw off opposition from many nations to win the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, then, at US$5 million, the joint richest race in the world on turf.

This success played its part in enabling him to take over from Silent Witness the title of biggest prize money winner in Hong Kong racing history, a record he held until it was surpassed last year by his slightly younger rival Viva Pataca.

His trainer David Ferraris, speaking from Australia, said he was obviously saddened by the news of the great horse’s death at such a relatively early age, but explained: “He had a heart condition and it just shows how good he was that he was able to achieve so much in spite of it.

“There were no marks, no injuries, and as far as we can tell no pain. Sir Patrick (Hogan, owner of Cambridge Stud) said he just went to sleep one night and didn’t wake up. He was such a wonderful horse, one of those who come along once in a blue moon.

“I know he had the retirement he deserved at Cambridge where he was a happy horse and looked fantastic. In fact I think he was actually a bit spoilt there. It’s lovely really that he returned to the place he was born and enjoyed his retirement there. Cambridge is where he’ll be buried.”

Owner Raymond Gianco Chow Hon Man said: “It came all of a sudden for me, and when David told me this morning I was shocked. But I’m all right now.

"We think it might have been a heart attack in his sleep as there was no sign of any distress or injury. He was such a good horse, a true champion for the Hong Kong people and one who did so much for the Chow family too.”

William A Nader, Executive Director, Racing, Hong Kong Jockey Club, also paid tribute to Vengeance Of Rain and described the horse as: “One of the greatest, who brought Hong Kong racing to a new level in the world.

"It’s always distressing when a horse who has given us so much excitement and pleasure dies, but it’s very comforting too to think that he spent his retirement much loved and in great contentment at the stud where he was foaled.”

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