HK DEC 11 - DUNADEN MAKES HISTORY IN HK VASE

By Hong Kong Jockey Club | Sunday, December 11, 2011

Dunaden stormed to a historic Group 1 double in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase, adding this year’s CXHKIR curtain-raiser to last month’s G1 Melbourne Cup.

The five-year-old, trained in France by Mikel Delzangles, is the first horse to add success in the Vase to victory in Australia’s premier race.

That win at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November came over 3200m, but Dunaden relished the drop back to 2400m at Sha Tin.

Settled in midfield under Australian rider Craig Williams, the French raider lay seventh of the 13 runners as Jakkalberry led the field off the home turn under Fabio Branca. But, as the British hope folded at the furlong pole, Dunaden’s powerful stretch run approached top gear and with Williams in full flow, the entire swept past rivals to land the spoils by three quarters of a length.

Thumbs Up, trained locally by Caspar Fownes filled the runner-up berth, while the Ed Dunlop-trained Red Cadeaux, a narrow second in the Melbourne Cup, shared third place with Silver Pond from the Freddy Head stable.

A delighted Delzangles commented: “He is an amazing horse because it is difficult for them to travel that much and yet peak at the right moment, twice.

"To be honest I was not quite sure about his chances here because he was on his own for a while, he worked alone and I had nothing to compare his progress to.

“I still can’t believe it … if anyone had told me in April when I started training him that I would be here in December, I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s definitely very important to me professionally.

“Going into the straight, although he had a perfect trip, I could not tell whether he would win, and then he made his move and won easily.

“He will go back home now and should have a well-deserved rest.

"I think he will start next season pretty late in the spring. We haven’t got a long-term plan for him.”

Williams, who expressed his joy by kissing the camera following his post-race interview, said: “He’s pleased me all week and I thought I had the right horse for the race.

"We wanted to get him close to the pace and running comfortably. It was courageous and it was a very, very thrilling win for me in a big international Group 1, and especially on a horse like Dunaden.”

Winning owner, Sheikh Fahad Al-Thani, stated: “I want to thank Craig for giving him a wonderful ride and Mikel for training him so well.”

Jockey's comments:

1st – Dunaden – Craig Williams
“I couldn’t have been happier with him since I sat on him earlier in the week. I’ve been looking forward to today. We decided to have him up as close as we could, and he produced so much when I pulled him out, the hairs were standing on the back of my neck some way before the line. I really love this horse.”

2nd – Thumbs Up – Brett Prebble
“He probably had his chance, but ideally we needed something to cart him into the race. We were left in front a touch soon.”

Dead-heat 3rd – Silver Pond – Thierry Jarnet
“The horse ran great, and we could have finished closer, had we not been so unlucky in the straight. He was checked before I was able to find a gap. He showed he’s right up there with these good international horses.”

Dead-heat 3rd – Red Cadeaux - Ryan Moore
“He ran a blinder. He had a beautiful run and finished it off even though the ground might have been a bit quick for him.

5th – Campanologist - Frankie Dettori
“He’s a little bit away from being absolutely top class, I was surprised they made him favourite. He gave me his best but that’s probably as good as he is.”

6th - Trailblazer - Katsumi Ando
“He didn’t jump well from the gate, wasn’t concentrating, and appeared not to handle the surface.”

7th - Jakkalberry - Marco Botti
“He’s run Ok, right up to his level, but not quite good enough.”

8th – Mighty High - Darren Beadman
“He’s given himself every chance, but the trip is a bit short for him in this company.”

9th - Super Satin – Olivier Doleuze
“I rode him to get the trip, and he was going nicely for me, then he just stopped on me.”

10th – Vadamar - Christophe Lemaire
“A little disappointing, I think the ground was too quick for him.”

11th – Redwood - Michael Hills
“He didn’t really fire today. He was OK until the race started in earnest around the turn, but when I asked him he didn’t really fire.”

12th – Mr Medici – Gerald Mosse
“He was a bit keen early and that cost him.”

13th – Sarah Lynx - Christophe Soumillon
“I’ve nothing really to say - she never really was firing today.”

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