Champion Australian jockey Jamie Kah was in hot form at Sha Tin on Sunday partnering progressive Deep Field gelding Voyage Bubble to victory in the HK$12 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m).
The Torryburn Stud brand is no stranger to success in Hong Kong having been carried by Group I winning sprinter Hot King Prawn and it appears on Voyage Bubble, who is on an upward spiral.
Rated beautifully in the lead by Kah, Voyage Bubble extended over the closing stages to prevail in the first leg of Hong Kong’s three-race Four-Year-Old Classic Series ahead of Tuchel and Packing Treadmill, clocking a winning time of 1m 34.58s.
“I’m pretty speechless, it’s been a very special day. I’ve had such a great experience here with some beautiful horses I have ridden. I was speechless after and I got goosebumps – it’s hard to make me speechless, it was a very exciting day,” Kah said.
Challenged late by Kiwi bred Redwood (GB) gelding Tuchel and Luke Currie over the concluding stages, Voyage Bubble won by a length and a quarter.
“He was mapped to get a really nice, sweet run in the race and I was confident. I was just worried about him late as he has the tendency to lay in and I just thought something’s going to swoop him late but he just built and built, he got stronger and stronger and probably at the 200 (metre mark) I thought we were never in doubt – it was a really impressive win going forward,” Kah said.
The triumph was Voyage Bubble’s second over a mile in as many starts and Kah is buoyant of his ability to continue raising the bar across the remaining two legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series.
“I was a bit concerned, he actually sat back in the gates and missed the start. I definitely didn’t want to get in behind them and I had to use him a little bit but then he comes back to you and that’s why I think he’ll get further,” Kah said.
“Because in front I could have gone a lot slower than that, I think he is still a free-rolling horse but over further I think he’s going to have that tactical change-up speed and I think that’s going to win him races over a trip if I can bring him back and get him to settle – he’s very easy to ride.”
Yiu will set Voyage Bubble for next month’s HK$12 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) – the second leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series – with Kah engaged to ride once more on 26 February. The third and final leg is the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 19 March.
“For the time being, I think the mile would be his best trip. It’ll (Hong Kong Classic Cup) be a bigger task for him but we will go for it, I think he keeps improving. We have to take a chance, mile or 1800 (metres), he has a lot of improvement in him and I have a lot of faith in this horse,” Yiu said.
Voyage Bubble has the tidy record of four wins and four placigns from nine starts with earnings of HK$10.61 million and he also collected a further HK$1 million bonus for the Sunshine And Moonlight Syndicate.
Voyage Bubble was bought by his trainer for $380,000 at Inglis Classic from the Torryburn draft and is a half-brother to Group III winner Diddums and stakes-placed Brettan being the sixth winner from seven to race out of the now pensioned good producer Raheights.
Voyage Bubble was the most expensive of 20 yearlings by Deep Field sold at Inglis Classic in 2020 and topped the entire sale.
Torryburn Stud sold from this family at Magic Millions this year with a Written Tycoon colt from Diddums selling for $200,000 to Best Bloodstock.
Voyage Bubble becomes the 24th stakes-winner for Deep Field, who has 16 entries for Inglis Classic, 13 for Inglis Premier and 14 for Inglis Easter.
