Akeed Mofeed wins Hong Kong Derby

Akeed Mofeed lived up to the hype that has surrounded his early career with a determined victory in an exciting climax to the 2013 HKG1 BMW Hong Kong Derby before over 56,500 race fans at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday.

Richard Gibson saddled the winner and third-placed Gold-Fun, both for owner Pan Sutong, in only his second Hong Kong season. Gibson revealed that his third Derby hope Mizani was a withdrawal prior to the race as a result of standing on a stone earlier in the day.

"The Derby is all about Akeed Mofeed, it's all about horses," said a delighted Gibson after the Dubawi colt had battled to a half-length verdict over the game runner-up Endowing from the John Size stable in a time of 2m 01.84s.

"I think the racing fans and the professionals will all be happy tonight because the best horse has won the race," he added. "He's a really class act and I don't think we've seen the best of him."

The former John Oxx trained winner broke well and took up an ideal position in fifth under Douglas Whyte but that early dream run quickly unraveled when leader Jun Gong slowed the pace markedly early in the back stretch.

"I came out the gates beautiful but they slowed it right down around the 1300m and I was in all sorts of bother," said Whyte, for whom this was a third Hong Kong Derby win in four years.

"I had a long rein and I had him galloping beautifully, so when I had to come back on his mouth I didn't have a short enough rein to get him back - I had to peel off heels and it got a bit messy."

Akeed Mofeed was shuffled back and forced three wide but that inconvenience ultimately proved little hindrance as he drove determinedly down the home stretch to overhaul HKG1 Hong Kong Classic Mile hero Gold-Fun, who had taken it up a furlong and a half out under Olivier Doleuze, and grind out a deserved victory.

"He was the best horse on the day," added Whyte. "I hadn't really got to the bottom of him - he was only just finding the line so it was a good effort. I think had it been a genuinely run race we would have seen a prettier win at the end."

Gibson believes the Derby winner, who ran fourth to Camelot in last year's Irish Derby, has plenty more to offer and is now looking at taking on Hong Kong's established stars.

"The next stage is to see if he can beat the very best of Hong Kong and that's a massive challenge, so we'll see how he takes the race and look at it in a couple of weeks," he told www.hkjc.com. "When they're this good you can have any plan you want in your mind, it's about forming the right plan at the right time with the owner.

"It's a great relief to get these two excellent athletes to the races in good shape, allowing them to perform to their natural ability. I don't think the race was ideal for Gold-Fun but he's a talented horse too and it was an excellent effort."

Elsewhere on the card, Ambitious Dragon was back to his crowd-wooing best as he treated the packed Derby day grandstand to a performance of scintillating brilliance in the HKG1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup under Zac Purton.

The seven furlong contest had been billed as a three-way battle between the two-time Horse of the Year, his old rival Glorious Days and sprint star Lucky Nine. However, the race was all but over as the field of nine straightened for home and careered toward the winning post. Zac Purton was sitting confidently astride Ambitious Dragon while all around him flailing jockeys were cranking their mounts into top gear.

Just over a furlong from home, Purton finally shook the reins and the Tony Millard-trained six-year-old unleashed his trademark burst to surge clear of his eight opponents for an easy two and a half-length verdict.

"That was unbelievable," said Purton. "Glorious Days and Lucky Nine are both outstanding horses in their own right. As we've seen today, when Ambitious Dragon is on song and right he's unbeatable - we don't know which one we're going to get until we get to the 200m but when he's right he's unbelievable, he's up there with the best of them."

Ambitious Dragon has now won seven G1/HKG1 races and he will aim for a second triumph in the G1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup over 2000m at Sha Tin on 28 April, having landed that prize back in 2011.

"He'll definitely go for the QEII," said Millard. "As long as I can keep him fresh and train him as I would like, he'll run a big race in the QEII.

"You can disregard his last race, he got a bash around the turn and when he came out of that he didn't want to run so the question of which Dragon turned up, he certainly got a bashing last race and was out of work for a few days, which for him was an issue.

"Today he got the ideal run, the pace was on and he showed us what a champion he is. You can't describe how that feels because a lot goes into it."