Voyage Bubble has sealed his ascent into Hong Kong’s elite class with emphatic victory in the HK$13 million G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (21 January) as James McDonald anointed Ricky Yiu’s flagbearer as an emerging star.
Providing Yiu with his first Group 1 triumph in Hong Kong since Amber Sky’s 2014 G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m), Voyage Bubble propelled McDonald to his sixth Hong Kong Group 1 spoil after stalking California Spangle and Beauty Eternal from third place before asserting his superiority with terminal acceleration from the 350m mark.
Improving his career record to six wins and six minor placings from 15 starts and prize money of HK$41.05 million, Voyage Bubble gave McDonald his second Hong Kong Group 1 score this season after Romantic Warrior’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) success.
“I was in a nice, controlling position where I felt like if the pace slackened – which it did – that I was in a free-rolling position and I had enough room around so that I could go when I wanted to go and it worked out perfectly,” McDonald said after Voyage Bubble downed Beauty Eternal by a length and a quarter with Beauty Joy another length away in third in 1m 33.97s.
“I’m very proud of this horse. He put in a fantastic run in the International Mile (G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile, 1600m, when second to Golden Sixty) and backed it up today. There’s no heir apparent to Golden Sixty but we’re happy to be the next man jogging on the spot, so to speak, and we’re probably lucky the champ wasn’t there.”