Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Coetzee's class shines through

One week after celebrating his 50th birthday, Felix Coetzee strode back into Hong Kong and displayed all the guile and experience that has made him one of the world’s elite jockeys to steal the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup by making all on Egyptian Ra.
Coetzee had departed Hong Kong last December after 16 years to return to his native South Africa but was only too happy to field a call from his old allies, trainer Tony Cruz and owner Cheng Keung-fai, and journey back to his old stamping ground at Sha Tin for this Group 1.
And what a ride he produced to upstage the big guns, favourites Good Ba Ba and Sacred Kingdom, leading soon after the start and expertly rating Egyptian Ra unchallenged in front.
Turning for home, the pair had pinched more than two lengths on the field and Coetzee kept the seven-year-old son of Woodborough up to his work to secure a three-quarters of a length victory from Good Ba Ba who stayed on best of the rest for second.
This was the second time this season that Egyptian Ra and Coetzee had made all at the expense of Good Ba Ba, having also achieved the feat in the Cathay Pacific International Mile Trial.
Tony Cruz now hopes these deeds will result in an international mission at the end of the season.
“In his previous race, the Stewards’ Cup, Egyptian Ra pulled up with a sore joint so I have to thank the vets here for the work they did.” Cruz said.
Confidence booster
“This time we got the right jockey on board in Felix. When Felix said he would be able to make the trip from South Africa I became
confident that the horse would turn in a big show as he rides him so well.
“We were mostly worried about Good Ba Ba beforehand, but now that we have beaten him I’m hoping we can be invited to race in Japan in the Yasuda Kinen in June with the Champions Mile in between next month.”
Coetzee, visibly flushed and thrilled with the outcome, added: “I am deeply honoured and sincerely grateful to Tony and Mr Cheng to invite me to ride the horse. This is a really exciting result for me.
“I took a peek at the big screen off the turn for home and I was really happy when I saw I had opened up a bit of a gap on them. I thought they might have been closer at that point and it filled me with confidence that we might nick it because I knew my horse wouldn’t stop.”
This won’t be the last Hong Kong racing fans will see of Coetzee for the time being, however.
He will again team up with Cruz in Sunday’s Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby aboard Beauty Forever. - HongKongJockeyClub

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