THE Irish-bred seven-year-old Exultant, was retired last weekend with the title of one of the greatest champions in the history of Hong Kong racing
A retirement ceremony was held last Saturday at Sha Tin, to say farewell to last season’s Horse of the Year, and a gelding who was twice crowned Champion Stayer and Champion Middle-Distance Horse.
Exultant ended his career with a record of 11 wins from 32 starts, with prize money earnings of HK$83,491,900, making him the second highest-ever earner in Hong Kong racing history, behind Beauty Generation.
Trained by Tony Cruz in each of his 11 wins in Hong Kong, the brilliant son of Teofilo won five Group 1 triumphs, a Group 2 and four Group 3s.
Exultant’s final start came at the end of May when he was third in the Group 1 Stand ard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup behind Panfield and Columbus County.
“He’s one of the best horses I have ever trained, I’m sad to see him go, he brought us so much joy and happiness – he won the main races in Hong Kong and he was Horse of the Year,” Cruz said.
His first win at the top-level saw him ward off an all-star cast to claim the 2018 Group 1 Hong Kong Vase, producing one of the most exciting finishes in the race’s history when he beat the top Japanese mare Lys Gracieux.
“His win in the Hong Kong Vase illustrated the type of a horse that he was, that’s my favourite win, for sure, it’s very unusual, especially in a Group 1 to be headed like that and fight back,” regular rider Zac Purton said.
Lys Gracieux went onto win three consecutive Group 1s including the 2019 Cox Plate and 2019 Arima Kinen.
Exultant was bred at Ballygallon Stud, where he will return to spend his retirement, and made his debut as a three-year-old, then known as Irishcorrespondent, for Michael Halford; he scored by a comfortable three and a half lengths over the mile at Leopardstown.
After another Leopardstown win, he then finished a gallant third behind Churchill and Thunder Snow in the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2017.
Hong Kong
Arriving in Hong Kong for his four-year-old season, Exultant was sent to Tony Cruz – Hong Kong racing’s champion trainer.
In his second Hong Kong season Exultant captured three Group 1s. Lining up as the second favourite for the 2018 Hong Kong Vase, he was the home team’s leading hope to repel the Japanese and Europeans, and he didn’t disappoint with the win over Lys Gracieux.
It was the first of five Group 1s for Purton aboard Exultant. The duo returned to snatch the Group 1 2019 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup as well the first of two Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cups.
In his third campaign in Hong Kong, he added four wins to his record including a pair of Group 1s, the FWD QEII Cup and a second consecutive Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup.
Crowned Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year for 2020, Exultant also took home a second successive Champion Stayer title and Champion Middle-Distance honour.
Owned and raced by Eddie Wong Ming Chak & Wong Leung Sau Hing, Exultant carried the family’s familiar silver and black silks.
“The horse has obviously brought us a lot of memories, he’s obviously the most successful horse we’ve ever had,” Kirk Wong, the son of Eddie Wong, said.
“Full credit to Zac and Tony because although we own the horse, we’re literally just spectators.
“The ability for Tony to maintain the horse in the condition he did for such a long period of time without injuries is very difficult obviously, so full credit to him,” Wong added.