Voyage Bubble earned major headlines when becoming the first horse for 31 years to complete the Hong Kong Triple Crown with a dominant performance in the the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday [May 25].
In the process, the six-year-old becomes the third horse to represent the region in the world Top 5 according to Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings, where HK compatriots Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior retain the top two spots.
Described as a “champion racehorse” by his jockey James McDonald, Voyage Bubble (#5 from #12, +87pt) made light of stamina concerns on this step up to 2,400 metres (1m4f) as he demolished his rivals in the HK$13 million ($1.65m/£1.22m), powering away in the closing stages to score by 3½ lengths.
Having won the Stewards' Cup over a mile in January and the Hong Kong Gold Cup over two furlongs further in February, the Ricky Yiu-trained gelding duly became only the second HK Triple Crown winner in history – and the first since River Verdon achieved the feat in 1994.
“So lucky to be riding him and he’s just a brilliant racehorse,” said current world #2 rider McDonald. “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.
“It’s a great training effort – a mile to 2,400m,” he went on. “They’ve got a champion racehorse on their hands and he deserves all the accolades he gets. It’s awesome. I’m very proud of him.”
Voyage Bubble’s impressive CV also includes the 2023 Hong Kong Derby, a race not accorded international G1 status as it is restricted to HK-based four-year-olds. His career earnings – including a HK$10m bonus for completing the Triple Crown – now total HK$107.4 million ($13.7m/£10.1m).
That said, he had been touched off by 90-1 longshot Red Lion a month ago on his previous start in the FWD Champions Mile. “I still can’t believe he got beat last time, to be fair, but he was just a different horse today,” said McDonald. “He was in the zone. He was prepped up just beautifully by the Yiu stable.”
In Europe, Sosie (#13 from #36, +138pt) is now clear favourite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe after landing the Prix d’Ispahan at ParisLongchamp for the third G1 success of his career.
The Wertheimers’ four-year-old finished with intent, wearing down Sardinian Warrior for a one-length verdict as he cut back in trip to 1m1f. Supplemented to this race after winning last month’s G1 Prix Ganay, Sosie is now 10-1 favourite for the Arc, where he was fourth last term behind Bluestocking.
First up, though, comes the £1m Coral-Eclipse at Sandown Park on July 5. “The Wertheimer brothers were keen to run him in the Eclipse so we had to test him over the shorter distance, so the option was the Ispahan," said master trainer Andre Fabre ((#11 from #14, +16pt), speaking to the Racing Post. “For a horse that is able to run a mile and a half and over, to have speed enough to beat those nice horses, it’s the best we could expect.”
On the same card, Candelari (#131 from #1508, +439pt) served notice that he is a new force to reckon with in the staying ranks when upped in class for the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier, newly upgraded to G1 level.
Los Angeles (#14 from #45, +128pt), one place ahead of Sosie in last year’s Arc, is now just one place behind that rival on the rankings after a tenacious effort to thwart Champion Stakes winner Anmaat in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup on a Classic weekend at the Curragh in Ireland.
“He's a big, idle, relaxed horse but he'll follow any pace and he'll fight – no horse likes a fight better than him,” commented world-leading trainer Aidan O’Brien. Royal Ascot beckons with the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
Also heading for the royal meeting is Field Of Gold (#22 from #108, +220pt), who delivered compensation for his luckless 2,000 Guineas defeat at Newmarket with an impressive display to beat Cosmic Year by 3¾ lengths in the Irish version under six-time Irish champion Colin Keane (#37 from #41, +21pt).
Co-trainer John Gosden was left comparing Field Of Gold to his estimable sire Kingman – also unlucky at Newmarket before storming home at the Curragh 11 years ago. “He’s right up there with his father,” said Gosden. “I think he’s as good as his father.” The winner will now target the St James’s Palace Stakes.
Breeders’ Cup heroine Lake Victoria (#27 from #78, +147pt) also bounced back from Newmarket defeat for emphatic odds-on success in the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas. The filly was completing a quickfire G1 double on Sunday [May 25] for world #1 sire Frankel after Candelari’s victory in France.
Elsewhere, Antino (#26 from #51, +79pt) climbs the charts after a four-length win in the Doomben Cup in Brisbane, while Kamunyak (#83 from #319, +243pt) claimed the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) in Tokyo.
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• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.