The COVID-19 outbreak prevented Southern Legend from attempting a third straight win in Singapore’s Kranji Mile however, it resulted in the Australian-bred posting his biggest win in the Gr1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin.
In a strange quirk of serendipity, Southern Legend (pictured, yellow jacket) foiled Beauty Generation’s bid for three straight wins in the Champions Mile, albeit narrowly by a short-head in a driving finish.
It is the first Group 1 win for horse and jockey, with Vincent Ho telling the Hong Kong Jockey Club the win was special even without any spectators on course.
“It’s amazing. There are no spectators here but it’s a Group 1! I’ve been working really hard for it and hopefully there are plenty more to come,” Ho said.
“The boss had prepared him for Singapore so I always felt he’d pick up really well. Last run, he ran really well, so I thought I could get close to Beauty Generation.
“I didn’t jump that sharply, maybe because the visor was off, but I got a good spot and the pace was actually quite slow. Southern Legend had won at 1800 and he’d gone 2000 metres as well, so when they went that slowly I decided to take off at the 600 (metres) and he got a really good kick and sustained it to the end.”
A stakes winner in Australia before transferring to Hong Kong, Southern Legend has now won eight of his 31 starts for owner Bon Ho and is the biggest earner for his sire Not A Single Doubt.
Trainer Caspar Fownes said he was anticipating more wins with Southern Legend.
“I haven’t told him he’s turning eight in August yet so we’ll keep that a bit of a secret!” the trainer said.
“I’ll just try to keep him happy and healthy and I always believe if horses are producing and have the ability to earn money for their owners, we keep going. When they’ve had enough, that’s when we retire them.”