Voyage Bubble blitzes field to win G1 Champions & Chater Cup

New Zealand jockey James McDonald has produced the perfect ride aboard Voyage Bubble to win the G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) on Sunday.

The Ricky Yiu-trained stayer had queries about his ability run the distance but the record-equalling effort was given a glowing endorsement from McDonald, who is one of the top jockeys in the world.

Given a perfect ride by McDonald, Voyage Bubble streaked to a three and a half-length victory over Rubylot and Cap Ferrat in 2m 26.67s to become only the second horse in Hong Kong racing history after River Verdon in 1993/94 to complete the Triple Crown by winning the HK$13 million G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m), HK$13 million G1 Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and the Champions & Chater Cup in the same season.

Demolishing nine rivals, Voyage Bubble claimed a fifth Group 1 as the 2023 Hong Kong Derby (2000m) winner secured a HK$10 million Triple Crown bonus, plus the winners’ purse of HK$7.28 million, to take his career earnings to HK$107.4 million for the Sunshine And Moonlight Syndicate.

McDonald, the reigning Longines World’s Best Jockey, revealed he thought the race – Hong Kong’s 12th and final Group 1 of the season – was in his keeping at the 600m after Zac Purton’s mid-race move on Ensued to join Moments in Time and Dubai Honour (fourth) at the head of the field.

With Ensued’s acceleration stringing out the 10-horse field, unflustered McDonald simply bided his time before gradually upping the tempo and hitting the front at the 270m before sweeping into history.

“I couldn’t have dreamed of it panning out as well as that – that’s once in a blue moon,” McDonald said.

“The stars aligned and with that sort of run, he was always going to be hard to beat – he was going to be hard to beat even without such a good run, but it all worked out.

“From the 600m, he tacked up beautifully, the pace increased, everything was smooth, nothing was cluttered up. I just had a really smooth run the whole way. He’s a brilliant horse. He just keeps raising the bar and he keeps on surprising every time I ride him.”

McDonald has been aboard Voyage Bubble in all five of the Deep Field gelding’s Group 1 wins and is still perplexed that the pair was beaten by 89/1 outsider Red Lion in the HK$24 million G1 Champions Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin last month.

“I still can’t believe he got beat last time, to be fair, but he was just a different horse today. He was in the zone. He was ‘prepped’ up just beautifully by the Yiu stable,” McDonald said.

“So lucky to be riding him and he’s just a brilliant racehorse. He just does everything you ask of him and he’s so willing. He was on song today and he’s just such a star.

“He just switches off and allows himself to get the distance so well and I just want to pay credit to the Yiu stable – they’ve done a remarkable job with this horse.

“It’s a great training effort – a mile to 2400m. They’re absolutely incredible. They’ve got a champion racehorse on their hands and he (Voyage Bubble) deserves all the accolades he gets. It’s awesome. I’m very proud of him.”

Yiu, who has trained a string of champion sprinters including Sacred Kingdom, Fairy King Prawn and Amber Sky, was jubilant after saddling his first winner at 2400m.

“Dreams came true, since I won the first two legs of the Triple Crown I started dreaming. Now today, dreams have come true – it’s amazing,” Yiu said.

“The closer I looked at the race today, the closer I thought he would have a winning chance – he’s done so well and his preparation was so good. He’s pure athletic. If you look at him, you can tell he’s a high-class racehorse. He’s performed up from a sprint to the maximum distance in Hong Kong – he’s a genius.

“When we first ran him over 1200 and 1400m it was like a game for him. The whole team is thrilled.”

Voyage Boss (127lb), who is also raced by members of the Sunshine And Moonlight Syndicate, triumphed on the undercard for Frankie Lor and Derek Leung, landing the Class 4 Makarpura Star Handicap (1200m) after Irish-bred three-year-old Light Years Glory (126lb) surprised at odds of 44-1 for Cody Mo by winning the Pakistan Star Plate (1200m) for Griffins under Matthew Chadwick.

Jamie Richards-trained Goldentronicmighty made it two wins in a row with success for Keith Yeung in the Class 4 Viva Pataca Handicap (1200m) before Francis Lui’s Packing Hermod slotted his sixth win from 10 starts by landing the Class 2 River Verdon Handicap (1400m) under Zac Purton.

“He’s more mature now and had a good draw today – the small field helped too,” said Lui, who will set the four-year-old for the HK$4.2 million G3 Premier Cup Handicap (1400m) at Sha Tin on 22 June.

Lui sealed a double when Luke Ferraris piloted Do Your Part to victory in the Class 4 Russian Emperor Handicap (1400m) as Mister Dapper clinched the Class 4 Helene Super Star Handicap (1600m) for David Eustace and Brenton Avdulla, who later partnered John Size’s 1600th Hong Kong winner Stellar Express in the Class 3 Indigenous Handicap.

Purton’s winning ride on Shamus Storm in the Class 4 Exultant Handicap (1400m) was hailed as a “master-class” by trainer David Hayes as Andrea Atzeni notched his 50th winner of the season aboard Manfred Man’s Gold Master in the Class 3 Vengeance Of Rain Handicap (2000m).

Purton finished with a treble after Top Dragon’s win in the Class 3 Oriental Express Handicap (1400m) for Chris So.

Hong Kong racing continues on Wednesday night (May 28) at Happy Valley.