Glory Elite (121lb) underlined his sprinting potential with a triumphant return to Happy Valley on Wednesday night (30 April) with victory in the Class 2 Seoul Handicap (1000m) under Derek Leung to earn a PPG Bonus of HK$1 million.
Having contested the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 31 January when he finished 10th behind My Wish, Glory Elite has since been restricted to shorter contests with tonight’s scamper being the Russian Revolution’s first test over 1000m since last season.
Jumping cleanly from barrier five, the four-year-old crossed smoothly to the rails and controlled the race for Leung to defeat Colourful King (120lb) by three quarters of a length in 56.08s, with Whizz Kid (122lb) third.
“He’s good. He was a bit more relaxed than at Sha Tin. He stood well in the gates and there weren’t many 1000m horses in the field and I made sure in the first 400 metres he didn’t make any mistakes,” Leung said. “He’s very honest, very straightforward.”
Glory Elite has had 19 starts for four wins and six minor placings with his previous three wins all over 1200m at Sha Tin and had started only once previously at Happy Valley.
Harmony Galaxy continued his excellent form for Danny Shum with an impressive win in the Class 4 Korea Racing Authority Trophy Handicap (1800m) for Brenton Avdulla.
Group 1-placed in Brazil, the four-year-old Courtier gelding made it successive course and distance triumphs with an excellent staying performance, finishing powerfully from the tail of the field out wide.
“He was good, he’s been racing well. He won with ‘Hughy’ Bowman on him the other day and he had to carry the big weight (135lb) tonight, but obviously they went a good gallop so it suited him,” Avdulla said.
“He chimed into it nicely and I was able to get to the outside and rip home. I think there’s still a bit of upside to him when he gets up to Class 3 – he’ll drop a lot in weight and still be competitive.”
