Racing: Unbeaten streak broken

HONG KONG - Bullish Luck raced to victory in the Champions Mile, ending the winning run of stable companion and local hero Silent Witness, the red-hot favourite to extend his unbeaten streak to 18.

Bullish Luck, ridden by Frenchman Gerald Mosse, stormed through in the last 200 metres to snatch the verdict from Silent Witness by a short head.

Winning owner Wong Wing-keung stared in disbelief and then raised his fists triumphantly when it became clear that his 6-year-old gelding had triumphed.

"It was so close, so close," Wong said, beaming.

Silent Witness, tackling a mile for the first time, tried to make all the running under jockey Felix Coetzee and after lurching powerfully from stall one still headed the 13-strong field into the straight.

Bullish Luck, a specialist miler, was down in mid-division but when Mosse extricated his partner the pair swooped home to land the spoils.

Trainer Tony Cruz, responsible for the first two home, said: "I hate to see a great champion [Silent Witness] getting beaten. I was expecting first and second, the other way round."

Silent Witness made headlines in April after he surpassed Cigar, Citation and Ribot's 16-race unbeaten streaks when he won the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup over 1400 metres. Before that victory, Silent Witness had raced only over 1000 or 1200 metres.

Although Bullish Luck had won a pair of mile races this term, he has never been as much in the public eye as his stable mate and pundits had billed Saturday night's HK$8 million ($1.45 million) race as a match between Silent Witness and British filly Attraction.

However, the Mark Johnston-trained winner of four group one races in Europe last season was slowly away and figured only briefly before fading out and finishing 11th.

Previously unbeaten, Silent Witness is now expected to revert to sprint distances and an international campaign may be put on hold.

Victory on Saturday would have drawn him level with the great Australian champion of the 1930s, Ajax, who won 18 races before going down at odds of 1-40.

- REUTERS