HK Derby Triumph for Helene Mascot
16th March 2008
It’s regarded as the most prestigious race in Hong Kong, the one every owner wants to win, and at Sha Tin on Sunday the Group One $HK16million Mercedes Benz Hong Kong Derby was won by the Irish bred entire Helene Mascot (4h Peintre Celebre x Razana, by Kahyasi) .Trained by Tony Cruz and ridden by Feliz Coetzee, Helene Mascot was sent out favourite and always looked a good thing in travelling easily throughout just off the pace and then kicking clear in the straight.
The son of Arc winner Peintre Celebre fought on well at the finish to hold off a determined bid from Jackpot Delight to win by a neck, with Green Birdie the best of the rest some four lengths back in third place.
Helene Mascot has enjoyed a meteoric rise in Hong Kong having had just three starts for two wins in Group One races and an unlucky second to Green Birdie in the Hong Kong Derby Trial HK Gr 3.
"He's a terrific horse," said Tony Cruz said of his rising star. "He fights and fights and doesn't know when he's beaten. I said after he won the Classic Mile that he is going to be an international star and you've just seen the proof of that. The second horse must be pretty special as well because they have come right away from the rest of the field.
"We were lucky to buy him last year. David Elsworth [former trainer] didn't want to sell but we stepped in with a bid at the right time and he settled in here quickly. Three runs now for two wins - both in Gr.1 races - it's hard to top that.”
A Listed winner at Newmarket in England in May last year when trained by David Elsworth under the name of Salford Mill, he also finished sixth to Authorized in the English Derby last year so is hardly short on quality.
Purchased by his original trainer David Elsworth for 45,000 guineas at the 2005 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Helene Mascot is a half-brother to stakes-placed Ovambo being from stakes-placed Razana, a half-sister to the Italian stakes-winner Raysiza.
