Local galloper Beauty Flash claimed a home-town victory in the Hong Kong Mile on Sunday after pinching a winning breaking in the straight.  The Tony Cruz trained gelding defeated French stablemates Royal Bench (Whipper) and Sahpresa (Sahm).

Beauty Flash (5g Golan – Wychwood Rose by Volksraad) was bred in New Zealand and was sold for $65,000 by Halidon Hill Farm at the 2007 NZ Bloodstock Select Sale at Karaka.

He won a Te Rapa maiden in January 2009 and made an immediate impact in Hong Kong with a string of wins culminating with a G1 victory in the Classic Mile in January.

“I was very confident he would finish in the first three,” Cruz said.  “He had been doing so well in the last few weeks and it’s all a matter of timing.”

Beauty Flash is by Spectrum sire Golan who shuttled to Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand.  His other Kiwi bred G1 winner has been Victorian Derby winner Kibbutz.  The Hong Kong result was also the initial Group 1 win for Volksraad as a broodmare sire.

Beauty Flash is a younger half-brother to modest Newcastle galloper Kealoha (Danske) who won two races at Gosford last year.

The HK Mile completed a big day for New Zealand bred horses at Sha Tin’s premier race day on Sunday.  Among their other winners on the support card were Affluence of Rain (Lonhro), King Al Akbar (Al Akbar) and Lucky Bravo (Faltaat).

Beauty Flash will now go on an international campaign with Cruz predicting he will take the NZ bred gelding to Dubai, Japan and the big mile races around the world.

There was a sensation before the start of the Hong Kong Mile when hot favourite Able One was withdrawn by order of the stewards who deemed he was lame.  Paco Boy was sent away as the 2/1 favourite after the withdrawal of Able One but he was never in the hunt after being trapped four wide from an outside gate.