Tony Cruz will bid for a fifth Group 3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup Handicap (2,400 meters) victory as a trainer when he saddles a pair of runners in Sunday’s staying feature at Sha Tin.
The six-time champion jockey and twice champion trainer has won more combined races than anybody in the history of Hong Kong racing – more than 2,500 and counting – through a glittering career in the saddle and Sha Tin trainers’ stand.
Cruz’s history in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup began with victory as a jockey on Always Win in 1988 for Lawrie Fownes. As a trainer he has won it with Supreme Rabbit (2003), Super Pistachio (2011), Exultant (2018) and La City Blanche (2024). Only John Moore, with six wins, has trained more winners of the race.
Five-year-olds Stunning Peach and Gentlemen Legacy represent Cruz in this year’s edition and he said he is looking forward to seeing both step up in trip.
“I’m happy with both horses. I think Stunning Peach is a staying type of horse and he can run a big race,” Cruz told The Standard.
“And same with Gentlemen Legacy, he needs further than 1,800m. That’s too short for him and I think 2,400m is perfect for him. He’s the one I think has the better chance.”
The Queen Mother Memorial Cup acts as a handicap stepping-stone to the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup at set-weights three weeks later, a race that is shaping as a high quality affair. Romantic Warrior will be aiming to complete Hong Kong’s Triple Crown in the 2400m feature and will be joined by last year’s Triple Crown hero Voyage Bubble, as well as Japanese visitors Rousham Park and Deep Monster.
Cruz’s pair will take on five rivals, including John Size’s Nautical Force, as the champion trainer looks to win the race in back-to-back years after Bundle Award gave him his second success in it last season.
Nautical Force returns for his second Hong Kong start after making an immediate impression on debut, storming from the rear to win a Class 2 1,800m contest in a rare first-up success for an overseas import.
“He’s only a little fella, he had a very light weight at a distance he could perform at last start and that’s why he was there.
“But, really, it’s hard to do what he did, that’s a pretty good test for a new horse. And he was very lucky in that race but still he got it done and you can’t take that away from him.”
Size was not getting carried away by the performance, particularly given how the race set up for Nautical Force, but there was still enough in the win to make him take notice.
“I think the 115 pounds was a pretty important factor, it was very useful for him and he probably won’t get in that situation again but still it’s a good performance. It’s unusual, and I think when a horse does something unusual you have to give him some respect for that.
“We’re not awash with that type of horse but it’s always an interesting event and it’s always a race that some trainers will aim at because that’s going to be suitable for their horse.”
David Hayes saddles four-year-old Fortune Boy, who he said has “been crying out for a mile and a half,” while Francis Lui Kin-wai’s progressive stayer Winning Wing adds depth after a Group 1 placing behind Romantic Warrior two starts ago. Caspar Fownes, a three-time winner of the race, is represented by Joy Of Spring, while Danny Shum Chap-shing runs Romantic Thor as he searches for a first Hong Kong success.
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
