Helene Vitality

[gatumgatum]

You backed the wrong horse Ima. I thought this former NZ Derby winner had turned the corner with his last start at Shatin. At 50/1 on Eurobet it was at great each way odds. He will certainly not start at these odds in the QE11 on the 21st.

[hobbes]

gatumgatum i assume from this that HV ran a place and ufo's japanese horses did not win but a bit more info would be useful for those of us in third world countries with slow internet connections. (connection to HK is slow so god only knows how the connection to dubai ould be)

[Smithers]

Helene Vitality ran 2nd. And Hayes said a good effort because he missed the start and also got very stirred up before the race.
The long-range plan for Hayes is to take him to Flemington for the Melbourne Cup.

[imaufo]

For all the results of Dubai click on this link ( which you will find under International lets travel aroundabit)
http://www.dubaiworldcup.com/2002races/races.html
http://www.dubaiworldcup.com/
[ March 24, 2002: Message edited by: imaufo ]

[corkey boy]

A great results for connections of Helene Vitality and Hong Kong racing. It would of been funny seeing little Helene Vitality parade against those oustanding looking UAE, Japanese and European runners knowing that he has a heart as big as himself and a will to run unlike many others.
Look out Melbourne Cup !

[hobbes]

nice article.
Wednesday, March 27, 2002
ON THE RAILS Helene Vitality performance opens the way for SAR horses
ALAN AITKEN
Helene Vitality's second placing in world championship class on Saturday night in Dubai did more for the current and future internationalisation of Hong Kong racing than any horse before him. More than the international efforts of the Ivan Allan-trained trio Fairy King Prawn, Indigenous or Oriental Express, Helene Vitality has shown that Hong Kong horses can compete overseas.
At some time in their careers, each of Allan's stars was a standout horse domestically, able to do remarkable things at Sha Tin or Happy Valley which suggested that international class was at hand.
Likewise, Electronic Unicorn is clearly of international quality and simply plays with the next best horses domestically while Fairy King Prawn is not around. But while his defeat in the Hong Kong Mile was a brave and outstanding run, it was not necessarily a catalyst for Hong Kong horses to take on the world because he had his rear spanked on his home turf.
Maybe Eishin Preston was the world's best miler last year. Maybe on that day he just caught the bug that made the Japanese almost unbeatable. Whatever it was, it was something to make the trainers of the next level of Hong Kong horses wonder how they can compete internationally if the horse that beats theirs up gets beaten up himself.
Trainer David Hayes described Helene Vitality this week as "very solid" at the top level and observed that we are only now starting to see the real Helene Vitality under different tactics. It may also be that 2,400 metres is the minimum trip the horse requires to show his best.
All valid points, and perhaps one day this column will look foolish as we honour Helene Vitality, the dual Horse of the Year and Breeders' Cup Turf favourite, but right now no-one in Hong Kong would describe the horse as dominant in his home base.
Even in his early career in Australasia, Helene Vitality looked as talented as any, but not exactly a standout amongst the Group One three-year-olds of his generation. So for this horse to race with distinction on the world stage is more important psychologically than the performances of a freak Fairy King Prawn or Electronic Unicorn, because it brings the bar down to a level we know others can achieve.
Surely the performance in Dubai got the attention of the connections of Industrial Pioneer and Cheers Hong Kong, who fought out that neck-and-neck finish with Helene Vitality in the Hong Kong Gold Cup just a month ago. Their owners are fully entitled to wonder "why not me?" when they watch Helene Vitality picking up HK$3.1 million for a second placing. And there's Red Sun, who was hot on the heels of Helene Vitality in last year's Derby, albeit on a soft track. Tony Cruz must have taken some encouragement on Saturday night regarding the grey's intended Japanese campaign later this year.
The next overseas test will be in Singapore, where 11 of Hong Kong's best have been nominated for the Singapore Airlines International Cup over 2,000 metres - including Industrial Pioneer and Cheers Hong Kong - and eight more for the KrisFlyer Sprint over 1,200 metres.
Some of those nominations might have been pipe dreams until last Saturday night. Now they don't look quite as crazy.
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