Bullish Luck ends Silent Witness' win streak

BULLISH LUCK (Royal Academy) has lived in the shadow of his more famous

stablemate Silent Witness (El Moxie) for some time. On Saturday at Sha Tin

Racecourse, the shadow was lifted as the bay six-year-old put in his late kick

to get up by a short head at the wire to take the Champions Mile (HK-G1) over

his vaunted rival.

Silent Witness quickly moved to his favorite position at the front of the

field and led down the backstretch under regular rider Felix Coetzee. Win number

18 seemed in the bag as the two set down for the drive to the wire, but it

wasn't to be. Bullish Luck and jockey Gerald Mosse was moving up fast on the

fence while Ain't Here (Dehere) put in his drive along the outside. It was the

former who posted the win, though, surging to match strides with his stablemate

before getting up on the outside in the shadow of the wire and stopping the clock in 1:33 3/5

on the good to firm turf.

Ain't Here finished two lengths farther back in third and was followed by

Bowman's Crossing (Dolphin Street), Super Kid (Gaius), The Duke (Danehill), Town

of Fionn (Snippets), Delzao (Encosta de Lago), Perfect Partner (Quest for Fame

[GB]), Cosmo Bulk (Zagreb), Attraction (Efisio), Tiber (Titus Livius [Fr]) and

Sambuca (London News).

"(Trainer) Tony (Cruz) told me before the race to produce his finish on the

outside but I couldn't get there so I took a risk to stay on the inside and it

worked out," Mosse said. "He showed a fantastic turn of foot and he ran down

Silent Witness. Not many do that."

Actually, not one has been able to accomplish the feat of finishing ahead of

Silent Witness. The six-year-old gelding was undefeated from 17 starts entering

the Champions Mile and was stretching out to a mile for the first time in his

career.

"What can I say? He got run down.," Coetzee said. "It's very disappointing."

The win was bittersweet for Cruz as the trainer for the top two finishers.

"I'm a bit disappointed for Silent Witness but I'm happy in that I train

Bullish Luck," he said. "I told Gerald Mosse on Bullish Luck to move on the

outside but he gambled on going inside. If he had gone on the outside, Silent

Witness would have won. It will be back to sprints with him next season but in

my heart he is still a champion."

Prior to Saturday, Bullish Luck recorded wins in the Stewards' Cup

(HK-G1) and Chairman's Trophy S. (HK-G2). He will now point toward the second

leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, the Yasuda Kinen (Jpn-G1) on June 5 in Tokyo,

while his stablemate will get a rest.

"I'm very proud of him because he has proven he can run a mile," said Silent

Witness' owner, Archie da Silva. "But every horse has to lose one day and he has

done his job for this season. He needs a break now and he will come back next

season in the sprints and we'll have another crack at this race again next

year."