An open letter to Tony Cruz and Wong Wing Keung

[my miss storm cat]

SCMP...

Monday, October 20, 2008

Change of venue does trick for Bullish Win

MURRAY BELL

Owner Wong Wing-keung and trainer Tony Cruz welcomed a young Bullish to the winners' circle, while planning the final hurrah from the most famous Bullish of all.

Bullish Win, handled by Eric Saint-Martin, made it three wins from 19 starts with a no-frills victory in the American Club Challenge Cup (1,650m), a fitting reward for some consistent form in the 11 months that have elapsed since his last win at Sha Tin.

A change of venue to the city course and being stretched out from his staple diet of 1,400m races proved the right recipe, as Cruz believed it would.

"He's been racing really well but he's drawn barrier 14 at his last two starts and, nobody's fault, but he just hasn't been able to get a good trip at all," Cruz said.

"Today from a good barrier, Eric has been able to get him into a good position and the slightly softer tempo of mile racing seems to have agreed with him. Now that he's shown he likes the place, I think we'd better bring him back here again."

Wong's ageing champion Bullish Luck will start on Sunday in the Mission Hills Sha Tin Mile Trophy in what, at best, will be a campaign of three races before his retirement.

"He's a nine-year-old and I don't think it would be a good look, campaigning a horse like him as a 10-year-old, so he'll have these few races before calling it a day," Cruz said.

"He'll start off in the Mile Trophy next weekend and if he comes through that OK, he'll run in the Cathay Pacific International Cup Trial. Then, if he runs well enough there to get invited to the Hong Kong Cup, that will be his final race."

With 10 wins and more than HK$62 million in prize money, Bullish Luck is one of the great horses in Hong Kong.

He was Horse of the Year in 2006, with his big victories that term being a second Champions Mile and the Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo. His earnings rank second only to Vengeance Of Rain (HK$75.4 million) on the all-time list.