Military Attack yesterday rewarded his fans by coming in first in a thrilling finish in Hong Kong in the HKG2 Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy (Handicap) over a mile.
The 6 yo son of Oratorio and one time Hong Kong horse of the year, caught up with Champion Miler Gold-Fun to win by a short-head in a time of 1.34.37s in his return to winning form after switching trainers from the John Moore Stable to Caspar Fownes during the summer.
According to trainer Fownes, his next outing will probably be the G2 Longines Jockey Club Cup over 2000m followed by the second richest 2000m turf race in the world, the HK$ 25 million Longines Hong Kong Cup on 14 December. This was his first win over a mile since May 2012 with his major victories in the past at 2000m, most notably the G1 Audemars Piquet QEII Cup and the G1 Singapore Airlines International Cup, both in 2013.
With the first of resident stallion, Oratorio’s crop now being born in South Africa, Avontuur Estate GM Pippa Mickleburgh is understandably elated by this performance. “We’ve worked with Oratorio for two years at Avontuur and he is producing strong, robust foals according to reports from the various breeders around the country. We are looking forward to seeing them at the yearling sales in 2016 and obviously on race courses around the country later on,” she says.
