Medaglia D’Oro (USA) already has the best horse in Hong Kong on current form in Aussie bred Golden Sixty and he also has a serious contender for the future after ex Godolphin horse Chenier made a winning HK debut at Sha Tin on Sunday under his new name of Enrich Delight.
A winner at Sandown and placed behind Alligator Blood in a Group III race during the autumn when trained by Anthony Freedman, Enrich Delight is now with Caspar Fownes.
Held up for a run, Enrich Delight charged to the line between runners to score a dazzling win in the Class 2 event over 1400m.
“I’m not surprised at all – I told Joao (Moreira) a while back – I said ‘I think this horse could be pretty special’,“ Fownes said “I’m not riding them but I can get a good feel for horses from training good horses for years and I said to him, ‘This one you want to be riding – he’s pretty smart’.”
Joao Moreira was impressed with Enrich Delight.
“He’s done it very professionally in a good style – he got into trouble in the home straight and horses were dropping quickly back into his face,” Moreira said.
“I went for a run and the gaps started closing and he got interrupted and didn’t have a smooth run, but when he saw daylight he really dashed home and showed he has a lot ability and as Caspar described: he is the real deal.”
Class 2 on debut is no easy feat, especially against a quality field which also saw the high-profile debuts of Tourbillon Diamond (124lb), who was G1-placed in Australia as Eric The Eel and finished third, while two-time Australian G1 winner Shadow Hero (130lb), who was slow out – finished a luckless seventh.
“First-up to do that – if he had got clear at the 200 metre mark he would have (won) in a canter, there’s not many that excite me, but he’s exciting,” Fownes said.
Fownes is hopeful of the Medaglia d’Oro gelding’s ability to see out a strong 2000m of the BMW Hong Kong Derby in March, 2021.
On pedigree that should not be an issue as Enrich Delight is from quality Zabeel mare Zydeco, who won the Group II VRC Wakeful Stake and was second in the Group I VRC Oaks.
Her dam All Time High won the Group I MRC Thousand Guineas and she is a half-sister to outstanding galloper All Our Mob, a four time Group I winner from 1200 to 2000m.
Zydeco is still with Godolphin and produced a colt by Ribchester (IRE) this spring.
