Helene Mascot Prevails In Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby Thriller Helene Mascot´s class and superior stamina proved decisive as he ground out a narrow victory from Jackpot Delight in a thrilling Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin on Sunday. Thirty-five minutes prior on an excellent card, Good Ba Ba defeated a luckless Sacred Kingdom in the HKGr.1 Queen´s Silver Jubilee Cup. First, though, to the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby in which trainer Tony Cruz and jockey Felix Coetzee teamed up to replicate their victory in 2004 with Lucky Owners. Winning owners the Woo family also savoured a repeat victory having won the race fifteen years ago with Helene Star. Helene Mascot was widely tipped as the horse to beat in this season´s renewal and was heavily supported into 11/8 favourite. Felix Coetzee bided his time in sixth place behind a solid tempo on the Peintre Celebre colt and unleashed his winning run as the field wheeled for home. Jackpot Delight, cajoled by Christophe Soumillon, gave chase, however, and eyeballed the eventual winner with 150m to race. But the staying prowess of Helene Mascot, sixth in last year´s Epsom Derby when he raced as Salford Mill, came through as Coetzee uncorked another burst while Jackpot Delight´s momentum peaked. A neck separated the pair at the wire with a sizeable three and three-quarter lengths back to Green Birdie, trained like the runner-up by Caspar Fownes. "He´s a terrific horse," Cruz said of the new champion. "He fights and fights and doesn´t know when he´s beaten. I said after he won the Classic Mile that he is going to be an international star and you´ve just seen the proof of that. The second horse must be pretty special as well because they have come right away from the rest of the field. "We were lucky to buy him last year. David Elsworth [former trainer] didn´t want to sell but we stepped in with a bid at the right time and he settled in here quickly. Three runs now for two wins ? both in Gr.1 races - it´s hard to top that. "Last time in the Derby Trial the pace was too slow and he was too keen and he had a foot problem leading up to the race. But everything went well leading up to today and we were confident." Helene Mascot will next appear in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup over the same 2000m distance in six weeks. "He´s international class all right. I´d look forward to taking on a horse like Viva Pataca with him," Cruz added. Sharing joint billing with the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup on 27 April will be the Champions Mile when Good Ba Ba strives to record a fourth straight Gr.1 having inflicted a rare defeat on Sacred Kingdom in the final leg of the Champion Sprint Series. To give credit where it´s due, Good Ba Ba was dropping back in distance to 1400m from his preferred mile, but the odds-on favourite Sacred Kingdom would surely have won with a clearer passage in the homestretch. Instead, jockey Gerald Mosse found himself all dressed up and with nowhere to go on the world´s top ranked sprinter. Once a gap finally appeared inside the final 100m, Good Ba Ba had the race in safe keeping and clung on for a half-length victory under a jubilant Olivier Doleuze. Joyful Winner ran third another half-length further back. "I wouldn´t want to meet Sacred Kingdom again so I hope he stays in the sprints! Good Ba Ba is better over a mile so to win today against such a great rival is tremendous," winning trainer Andreas Schutz said.
