Bon Ho’s Everest winner Classique Legend did not take to Hong Kong, but he’s had no such problems with eight year-old Not a Single Doubt gelding Southern Legend, who keeps delivering year after year.
At Sha Tin on Sunday he scored a half length win in the Group III The Premier Plate (1800m) beating Kiwi bred Reliable Team, a $430,000 graduate of the NZB Ready to Run Sale.
Trained by Caspar Fownes and ridden by Zac Purton, Southern Legend carried 60.5 kg as a result of his status as one of Hong Kong’s most dependable performers in recent times.
After shedding his maiden tag over five years ago in Australia, the bay’s long and varied career has encompassed two successful Singapore raids, a sixth-place finish to Almond Eye in the 2019 G1 Dubai Turf (1800m) as well as his head-bobbing triumph over Beauty Generation in last year’s Group I FWD Champions Mile (1600m).
Beaten a head by Golden Sixty in January’s Group I Stewards’ Cup (1600m), the evergreen eight-year-old – who has placed four times at the top-level this season – got his reward for consistency with this latest win.
“You’d like a few more like him in your stable – he’s just a brute, he’s got so much heart and he deserved that victory. He’s been so consistent all his career and then in the last 10 runs he’s been in the money each time, so he deserved that win,” Fownes said.
Southern Legend started his career in Australia for Les Bridge and has the overall record of 13 wins and 18 placings from 52 starts!
“I’m very happy for Bon – he puts so much into the game of racing that he deserves these types of horses and he deserves the best,” Fownes said of owner Boniface Ho, whoi has been a huge investor at Australian yearling sales in the past few years.
“Bon’s left it to me, I’ll make that decision when I feel he’s had enough. You can see he’s still got his passion to race and he knuckled down giving those young horses a lot of weight and he attacked the line like a bloody tiger, which is what you want to see these old horses do.
“Obviously he’s going to be nine in about six weeks and we’ll give him a nice prep for next season and see what he can do, there’s a lot of money still on offer here in Hong Kong and we’ll just offset that with how the horse is. Obviously if he’s had enough, we’ll just retire him.”
A $280,000 Inglis Easter purchase for Neville Begg and Carmel Size for Bon Ho from the Corumbene Stud draft, Southern Legend was bred by Corumbene Stud and is the best of four winners from winning Carnegie (IRE) mare Donna’s Appeal, a daughter of stakes-winner Donna Natalia.
Donna’s Appeal has yearling colt by Epaulette that made $100,000 at Inglis Easter this year when bought by Rohan J Hughes Thoroughbred Services / Grahame Begg Racing Pty Ltd and has a weanling colt by Dundeel to follow.
Donna’s Appeal was covered by Snitzel last spring.
