Werther wins Hong Kong’s QE II Cup

HONG KONG — An up-and-coming Werther romped to victory Sunday in the annual Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong, leaving favorites and overseas rivals in the dust by winning four-and-a-half-lengths ahead. It was the four-year-old’s first win at the international Group 1 race after winning last month’s Hong Kong Derby, another major event in the city’s horseracing calendar. Largely staying behind, the Hong Kong-stabled horse swept past early leaders in the home stretch of the 2000-meter race, sprinting smoothly toward the finish line as Australian jockey Hugh Bowman lifted the whip to claim victory. Bowman described the win as “breathtaking.” “We’ve seen the best of him ... I certainly didn’t expect him to perform to the level he did this afternoon,” he told reporters after the race. “The horse has only been racing against his own age group. This is a big step up in class,” he added, referring to the Hong Kong Derby which is limited to four-year-old horses. Trainer John Moore says he was surprised. “(Was) never never expecting that ... after winning so decisively he has now taken a big step to prove himself on the world stage,” he told reporters. The 2013 winner Military Attack was runner up and bookie’s favorite Blazing Speed, which won last year’s meet, came third. Early leader Lovely Day, from Japan, finished fourth. The race also attracted horses from Ireland, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. A crowd of about 30,000 turned out at the rainy Sha Tin Racecourse for the annual event, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the city’s sole organizers of horse racing, told AFP. The HK$20 million ($2.58 million) race was first run in 1975 at the Happy Valley Racecourse during a visit by the British monarch to Hong Kong. In 1995 it became an international event with overseas runners invited to participate and was promoted to Group 1 status in 2001. — AFP