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Ambitious Dragon is Hong Kong's Horse of the Year for second straight year For the second consecutive year, Ambitious Dragon earned the title of Hong Kong Horse of the Year for the 2011/2012 racing season at the Hong Kong Jockey Club awards ceremony held during the final race meeting of the season at Sha Tin racecourse on Sunday. The five-year-old son of Pins also defended his crown as champion middle-distance horse in addition to earning the title as champion miler. Among his biggest wins this season, the Tony Millard-trained horse won this term's first and second legs of the Triple Crown series -- the Group 1 Stewards' Cup and Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup. International hero Little Bridge, victorious in last month's Group 1 King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot, was voted Most Popular Horse of the Year by members of the public. In addition, the five-year-old gelded son of Faltaat, who is trained by Danny Shum, claimed the title of champion sprinter. The champion stayer pedant went to the David Ferraris-trained Liberator, who defeated Ambitious Dragon in the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup, the final leg of the Triple Crown. The unbeaten Amber Sky, from the Ricky Yiu string, was chosen as champion griffin. The Exceed and Excel two-year-old won all three starts on the Sha Tin straight course. The John Size-trained Glorious Days, another rising four-year-old star, became the Most Improved Horse with the greatest rating increase of 57 points in the season. The gelded son of Hussonet snatched four wins and three seconds in his seven starts in his first racing season in Hong Kong. Another unbeaten champion, Black Caviar, was elected the Most Admired Overseas Horse of the Year with 88,049 votes from members of the public. Meanwhile, the Paul O'Sullivan-trained Cai Bao In claimed the 2011 Hong Kong International Sale Bonus of HK$1-million by earning HK$3,441,750 in stakes money from nine starts. The recently-retired Sacred Kingdom, a top turf sprinter between 2007 and 2009, and Able One, winner of the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile last December, were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards in recognition of their contribution to Hong Kong as well as international racing. John Size won the trainer title for a seventh time with 70 wins, while jockey Douglas Whyte collected the jockeys' premiership for the 12 consecutive year with 107 wins. He was also elected Most Popular Jockey of the Year for the seventh time with 94,163 votes. Ben So became the Champion Apprentice Jockey with 22 wins. Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
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