Irishcorrespondent Impresses In Hong Kong The former Michael Halford trained Irishcorrespondent now named Exultant and racing in Hong Kong was an impressive winner at Sha Tin this morning. The three-year-old had caught the eye on his first two starts at the course last month and was sent off a hot 4/5 favourite for today's Class 2 Long Ke Handicap over 2,000m (1m2f). Ridden by Zac Purton, Exultant was keen in the early stages and restrained towards the back of the field before being produced with a long looping run on the approach to the home straight where he quickened clear in the style of a top class performer to win by almost three lengths. Owner Eddie Wong said: "This horse arrived with a profile already from Europe,” he said. “I didn’t think he could win like that, but it was exciting. Tony (Cruz trainer) has told me that he is likely to miss the Classic Mile and the horse will go into the Classic Cup and then the Derby.” The Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) is run on 18 February, with the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) a month later on 18 March. They are the final two legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which begins with the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 21 January. However, while Purton believes Exultant has the class to figure in the classics, he thinks the son of Teofilo needs to figure out his racing manners if he is to reach the very top of the Hong Kong tree. “You don’t often see horses pull that hard and still win the way he did,” the rider said. “It bodes very well for the future if he can sort himself out. He’s obviously got an engine but he’s still six to 12 months away from being a proper horse, so it was good to see him come out and do that today but he can’t continue to race like that and still get results. He needs to chill, relax and help himself out.” Exultant (formerly Irishcorrespondent) stamps his #HKDerby claims with a big victory over 2000m to give @zpurton a treble consisting entirely of three-year-olds #HKRacing pic.twitter.com/gBmcfo6G6M— HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) December 23, 2017
