Japanese superstar Maurice stretched his winning sequence to seven when sprinting clear of a quality line-up to win the Group I Champions Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Joao Moreira, Hong Kong's number one jockey and nicknamed 'The Magic Man', gave Maurice ($2.15 HK tote) the perfect ride fourth one out before claiming the leaders halfway down the straight and powering away for a two length victory.
"He is amazing," Moreira said.
"He gave me so much confidence that he was going to get there any time that I was
going to press the button. When I gave him the daylight he just started to get
going by himself and showed what he is capable of."
John Size combined with Brett Prebble to provide the runner-up Contentment, which had every chance after box-seating while Ricky Yiu's Packing Pins was three-quarters-of-a-length away in third for Gerald Mosse.
The five-year-old son of Screen Hero has now won nine of his 14 career starts, including the past four at Group I level.
Maurice tackled the Champions Mile first-up, after winning the Group I Hong Kong Mile over the same route back in December.
"I'm extremely happy to have won the Hong Kong Mile at the international meeting in December and to come back and follow up in the Champions Mile today," said winning trainer Noriyuki Hori.
"It's a pleasure to come here and I'm happy for the win,
I'd like to thank Joao for giving the horse a great ride."
The mile was covered in 1.34.08 on a good track.
Australian representative Bow Creek disappointed finishing last.
The meeting at Sha Tin was a memorable one with favourites Chautauqua then Maurice winning the two Group I contests forty minutes apart, sending the local and international punters on course into a frenzy.
Turnover was a record for the day at HK$1.457 billion, while the crowd of 27,878 was the highest at the meeting in six years.
Mr. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Chief Executive Officer, said: "The week shaped up to be a more than exciting global racing event, and I would say that the Chairman's Sprint Prize was one of the most exciting races we've seen here in a while – the world's best sprinter showing that electric turbo charge at the end – it was fantastic.
"Maurice emphasised in the Champions Mile that he is probably the best miler in Asia and one of the best milers in the world, and he and Chautauqua winning show that the best can come here and perform.
"We are sure that this event can go further – not forgetting last week's APQEII Cup, we have seen wonderful horses, top-class performances, and we have a great platform on which to build. We can grow this event and we have exciting plans for next year that will be announced at a later date."
