Far East stars Vermilion, Viva Pataca book tickets to Dubai

Far East stars Vermilion, Viva Pataca

book tickets to Dubai

In a pair of major contests on Sunday, Japanese champion VERMILION (El Condor

Pasa) and Hong Kong superstar VIVA PATACA (Marju) each scored impressive

victories in their respective locales, booking their tickets for Dubai World Cup

night on March 29. Vermilion rolled to a convincing score in the February S.

(Jpn-G1) on the dirt at Tokyo, his prep for the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1), while

Viva Pataca asserted his dominance in the Hong Kong Gold Cup (HK-G1) on the turf

at Sha Tin, his prep for the Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G1). 

Ridden by Japanese champion rider Yutaka Take, Vermilion sat wide throughout

after drawing one from the outside but traveled easily to the lead shortly after

straightening, and while challenged briefly, he let down to race away and win

easily by 1 3/4 lengths. The six-year-old dark bay completed about one mile on

the fast track in 1:35.30.

Blue Concorde (Fusaichi Concorde), second in the race last year, ran on well

to fill the same position, but was never a threat, while Wild Wonder (Brian's

Time) acontinued his improvement to finish third.

Vermilion will now attempt to improve on his fourth to Invasor (Arg) last

year in the $6 million World Cup, an about 1 1/4-mile test at Nad al Sheba.

"Vermilion will head to Dubai for his second attempt on the Dubai World Cup,

and I believe that the horse is superior to what he was 12 months ago," said

Shunsuke Yoshida, CEO for Sunday Racing, the syndicate that owns the horse.

His warning is backed up by the horse being unbeaten in four runs since the

world's richest race, capturing the JBC Classic, Japan Cup Dirt (Jpn-G1) and

Tokyo Daishoten prior to his February victory. For his heroics in 2007,

Vermilion was honored as Japan's champion dirt horse.

In Japan on Saturday, Riichi Kondo's ADMIRE AURA (Agnes Tachyon) charged home

from far off the pace to land the Kyoto Kinen (Jpn-G2) by 1 1/4 lengths. Under a

confident ride by Katsumi Ando, the four-year-old reeled off about 1 3/8 miles

on Kyoto's firm turf in 2:13.60. Plans call for Admire Aura to follow in the

hoofsteps of Admire Moon, who won the Kyoto Kinen before taking the nearly

nine-furlong Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1) for the same owner last year.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, Viva Pataca routed his Hong Kong Gold Cup rivals to

underline his credentials as a leading contender for the about 1 1/2-mile Sheema

Classic. The John Moore charge delivered an explosive turn of foot in the

stretch to win by 2 3/4 commanding lengths, stopping the teletimer in 2:03.90

for about 1 1/4 miles on Sha Tin's good turf.

"He switched off well and went through the gears very quickly when I asked

him," jockey Darren Beadman said. "He's won with plenty of authority in the end.

It was pretty thrilling.

"The further he goes, the better he gets, so the mile and a half in Dubai

should suit him down to the ground."

"He's right on target for Dubai," said Moore, who has declared Viva Pataca

the greatest horse he has handled in more than 20 years, and almost 1,000

winners, as a Hong Kong trainer.

"The task now is to hold him at this level of form," the horseman continued.

"If we can do that, he will have a good chance in the Dubai Sheema Classic. I

don't think he beat anything really great today, but I was very impressed with

how he did it. He will meet a much stronger field in Dubai but we go there

confident of giving it a good shake."

Viva Pataca is due to depart for Dubai on March 18 for the Sheema Classic,

won last year by recently retired Hong Kong star Vengeance of Rain, who took

the Hong Kong Gold Cup immediately prior.