Time Warp lives up to his name in the Hong Kong Gold Cup
Time Warp smashed the course record to take out the Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin yesterday with equine cult hero Pakistan Star an honest fourth in his comeback to racing.
While the enigmatic Pakistan Star, making his return to the track after refusing to race in June, dominated the headlines in the lead-up to the HK$10-million contest, his stablemate was the star of the show, becoming the first horse to break two minutes over 2000m at Sha Tin.
The Tony Cruz-trained Time Warp bounced straight to the front but it was never on his own terms, with Helene Charisma breathing down his neck and Matthew
Hong Kong -
Chadwick settling Pakistan Star in the box seat.
Helene Charisma punctured on the home turn while favourite Werther, ridden by Hugh Bowman, loomed up ominously to tackle the leader in the straight.
Despite levelling up, Werther couldn’t get past Time Warp, who responded to the urgings of Zac Purton to get up by 0.50 lengths, stopping the clock in a lightning 1:59.97.
Stewards’ Cup champ Seasons Bloom ran on strongly for third and Pakistan Star battled home honestly to finish just 1.25 lengths behind the winner.
Even though Pakistan Star was slow out of the gates, he raced truly throughout, showing none of the quirks that saw him sidelined through the first half of the season.
While his many fans can expect to see more of Pakistan Star now he is back on track, stewards confirmed after the race that Werther bled, which will sideline him for at least three months.
Time Warp now has two Group 1 wins to his credit, having also led all the way in the Hong Kong Cup on International Day.
Purton capped of an amazing 35 minutes by capturing the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup with Beauty Generation – completing the Group 1 double.
John Moore’s star edged out the favourite, Beat The Clock, with Fifty Fifty in third. –
It is Beauty Generation’s second Group 1, with him having also won the Hong Kong Mile in December. –