Beauty Joy for Cruz
HONG KONG • Tony Cruz is confident Beauty Joy can continue a prodigious rise after the emerging talent propelled Zac Purton to a confidence-boosting treble with the Group 3 Lion Rock Trophy Handicap (1,600m) victory at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Now the most successful trainer in the Lion Rock Trophy’s seven-year history – having won it previously with The Golden Age (2018) and Ka Ying Star (2020) – Cruz said Beauty Joy can ascend even higher after notching his fourth win of the season.
“Good horses can relax and they can change gears and they can quicken. He’s the type of horse who can do that. He won a Group 3 race today and I think he can be a Group 2 horse,” Cruz said.
“It started fast and then they started to pull it up on the turn and Beauty Joy started to throw his head up because they slowed it down. But Zac has got good hands, so he could still relax the horse and he could still finish strong. I was very happy with the ride.”
Unbeaten in four Australian starts as Talladega, Beauty Joy could press for a season-closing win in the Class 1 Hong Kong Racehorse Owners Association Trophy Handicap (1,600m) on July 16.
Posting his first win in the Lion Rock Trophy, four-time champion jockey Purton also scored on Handsome Twelve and Phoenix Light to bring up his first treble since May 1.
On 115 winners, the Australian still holds second spot, six winners off arch-rival Joao Moreira. - HKJC
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