Exultant is HK's Horse of the Year
Tony Cruz-trained 6YO also named Champion Middle Distance Horse and Champion Stayer
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Exultant is the first horse, since River Verdon in 1991-92, to win the Horse of the Year title in the same season after capturing both the Group 1 FWD Queen Elizabeth II Cup and the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup.
PHOTO: HKJC
For his outstanding exploits during the just-ended 2019-20 racing season, multiple Group 1 victor Exultant earned the Hong Kong Horse of the Year award at a special presentation function at Sha Tin Racecourse on Thursday night.
The Tony Cruz-trained six-year-old Irish-bred gelding was also named Champion Middle-Distance Horse and Champion Stayer for the second consecutive year.
Exultant is the first horse since River Verdon in 1991-92 to win the Horse of the Year title in the same season after capturing both the Group 1 FWD Queen Elizabeth II Cup and the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup.
Only two other Hong Kong champions - Top Grade and Quicken Away - have achieved the same feat.
Exultant, a five-time Group 1 winner, showed uncommon class and resolution during the campaign, in which he finished in the frame in all of his seven starts.
In addition to his two Group 1 wins, the Teofilo gelding also took the Group 2 Jockey Club Cup and the Group 3 Centenary Vase Handicap. He was placed in the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Vase, the Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup and the Group 3 Sa Sa Ladies' Purse Handicap.
Exultant is owned by Eddie Wong Ming Chak and Wong Leung Sau Hing.
Golden Sixty was the deserving winner of the newly introduced Four-Year-Old Champion award.
The Francis Lui-trained galloper became only the second horse, after Rapper Dragon, to win all three legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, including the BMW HK Derby.
The Medaglia d'Oro gelding went through the season unbeaten with seven wins. He also tasted his first Group success in the Group 3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup Handicap.
Lui's stable star matched brilliance with versatility, with his wins ranging from 1,200m to 2,000m.
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Other honours
• Good Luck Friend, Champion Griffin after securing four wins from six starts.
• Amazing Star, Most Improved Horse with a 42-point rise from 58 to 100 with four wins in just six starts.
• Ricky Yiu, Champion Trainer (67 wins).
• Zac Purton, Champion Jockey for a fourth time (147 wins).
• Vincent Ho, winner of Tony Cruz Award as the season's leading homegrown rider (67 wins). He also won the Most Popular Jockey of the Year accolade.
• Retiring trainer John Moore, the Lifetime Achievement Award for his great contribution to Hong Kong racing over almost 50 years. The 2020/21 racing season starts on Sept 5 at Sha Tin.
HKJC
Golden Sixty also secured the bulk of the public vote to claim the Most Popular Horse title.
Two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year Beauty Generation lost his outright crown, but was named Champion Miler for a remarkable third season in a row.
The Road To Rock seven-year-old remained a significant force at the highest level, and completed a hat-trick of wins in the Group 1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup.
Trainer John Moore's stable standout also won the Group 3 Celebration Cup for the third time in succession. He earned three Group 1 placings, with his seconds in the Stewards' Cup and the FWD Champions Mile and third in the Longines Hong Kong Mile.
Beat The Clock was named the Champion Sprinter for the second year.
The John Size-trained six-year-old was a dual Group 1 victor this term, claiming the Longines Hong Kong Sprint and the Centenary Sprint Cup, which he also won in the 2018/19 season.
HKJC
