Tony Cruz

Furore won the BMW Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday afternoon with a brilliant victory that fulfilled Frankie Lor’s dream of becoming the first “home grown” Hong Kong trainer to land the race for 11 years. “I can’t express my feelings,” the handler said, after claiming Hong Kong’s most prestigious local prize […]

Time Warp (133lb) returns to Happy Valley on Wednesday night for the first time since June 2017 with connections hoping the gelding can enhance his notable record at the city track in the G3 January Cup Handicap. Trainer Tony Cruz has opted to have his charge shoulder top-weight in the downtown venue’s only Group race […]

Hong Kong’s Frankie Lor, in just his second season of training, today may well have announced himself as a likely future champion of his home town when Glorious Forever claimed the flagship G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup. The win followed Lor’s earlier success with Mr Stunning in the Hong Kong Sprint; this momentous double may […]

Exultant and Lys Gracieux served up a finish to the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase of such gripping drama that it raised the Sha Tin faithful to their feet and lifted their roars to a thunderous cacophony. The Joao Moreira-ridden Japanese filly headed Exultant with 150 meters to go, only for Hong Kong’s newest hero […]

The spotlight has shone on Pakistan Star ever since his Internet-rocking debut two and a half years ago, but this week, the biggest of all in Hong Kong’s horse racing year, the mercurial one has been unusually peripheral. Pakistan Star has gone about his regular routine without hoopla; a warm-up in the trotting ring, a […]

A crucial barrier trial at Sha Tin Racecourse on Friday Nov. 30 appeared to signal all is well with Pakistan Star and Time Warp ahead of the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races this coming Sunday. The Tony Cruz-trained stars were required to pass a trial to the satisfaction of the racing stewards before being allowed […]

Time Warp set a merciless tempo to win the HK$10 million Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse this on Sunday, Feb. 25. After leading from the off under Zac Purton, the strapping chestnut was forced to go where no horse had gone before – inside two minutes over Sha Tin’s […]

Winner’s Way helped Zac Purton to a five-timer and earned a shot at one of two upcoming Group 3 prizes with a front-running victory in the Class 1 Macwhinnie Cup Handicap (1400m), the feature contest on a rainy Chairmen’s Day at Sha Tin (Saturday, 13 May). Winner’s Way’s win sealed an early hat-trick for Purton […]

Fan-favorite Peniaphobia, winner of the Longines Hong Kong Sprint in December, picked up another victory Saturday night to close out his season. The 5-year-old gelding galloped home in the G3 Sha Tin Vase, putting a poor finish in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize on May 1 far behind him. Peniaphobia had attended a rapid pace that […]

Peniaphobia dashed straight to the lead from the outside No. 14 post position and was never headed in Sunday’s Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint, upsetting a fast-closing favorite, Gold-Fun, in the 1,200-meter (6 furlong) turf fixture. Not Listenin’tome was third, with Dundonnell giving the home team in Hong Kong a sweep of the top four […]