Cap Ferrat ends losing streak, narrowly wins Hong Kong Derby

Craig Williams produced one of the finest rides of a decorated career to guide Cap Ferrat to a narrow victory in the US$3,343,986 Hong Kong Derby for 4-year-olds on a day of triumph for trainer Francis Lui at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Winless in 13 Australia starts and three more in Hong Kong until Sunday, the Snitzel gelding hugged the rail throughout in fourth place after starting from post 2. He never went around another horse before holding off My Wish ridden by Luke Ferraris by a short head with Packing Angel and jockey João Moreira a farther head away third.

The winning time was 2:00.67 without a run-up going 2,000 meters on the turf, 13 yards short of 1 1/4 miles.

Hong Kong Classic Mile winner My Wish was taken back to last from gate 14 and was forced to make a sustained sprint from the half-mile pole, clocking a race best 21.39 seconds for the final 400 meters, roughly a quarter-mile.

Lo Rider with Hugh Bowman finished fourth after attempting to lead all the way, followed closely by Rubylot and Brenton Avdulla, Johannes Brahms and Andrea Atzeni and Bundle Award and Ben Thompson. They all finished within two lengths of Cap Ferrat.

Hong Kong’s reigning champion trainer, Lui dominated Sunday’s card with three wins.

Formerly trained by Chris Waller in Sydney, Cap Ferrat was twice Group 1-placed in Australia behind Tom Kitten and Riff Rocket but was sent off as a 25-1 chance after moderate efforts finishing 12th and ninth in the first two legs of Hong Kong’s classic series, namely the Hong Kong Classic Mile and the 1 1/8-mile Hong Kong Classic Cup.

Williams, 47, from Australia, praised Lui for the 4-year-old’s stunning form reversal.

“He’s never won a race ever until today,” Williams said. “Full credit has got to go to Francis Lui and his team and the owners of this horse for entrusting Francis with him, because I rode him three weeks ago, and I said you have a lot of work to do. I thought he was really gross, really full of himself.

“It’s certainly a special win. It’s such a prestigious race in Hong Kong. Francis rang me. He was at the Sydney yearling sales, and I was on the Gold Coast, and he said, ‘Would you like to come ride Cap Ferrat?’ I rode him when he was in Australia, and I liked the horse. He had good 10-furlong form. He had two runs in Hong Kong. One was really good and one not so good, and I said I’d love to come over and ride him for you.”

Williams, who has snared most of Australia’s most prestigious races as well as riding successfully in Japan, Great Britain, Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore and Malaysia, took his Hong Kong tally to 126 wins.

Triumphant with Golden Sixty in the 2020 Hong Kong Derby, Lui said, “I still feel very excited. The last two runs (Cap Ferrat) had bad draws and bad luck. I checked his record, and Craig rode this horse (in Australia), so he knew the horse.”

Coverage of the entire Hong Kong Thoroughbred season at Horse Racing Nation is made possible through a sponsorship by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.