The champagne corks are popping at Avontuur today with the news just in that 5-year old son of Oratorio, Military Attack won the HK$8 million Gr1 Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup over 2000m earlier today.
According to trainer John Moore, who’s had previous success with this race, he always thought the bay gelding would be up to a Gr 1 and this breakthrough win proves him right. His careful instructions to jockey Zac Purton about keeping him back in third place worked like a charm when the jockey let him loose at the 200m mark, leading to a 2 and a half lengths win in 2 min 03.01 seconds.
Plans are afoot for possible races overseas and trainer and owner are looking into possibilities like the Gr 1 Dubai Duty Free, which could be exciting.
With Oratorio settling in perfectly at his new home at Avontuur, we look forward to seeing the success of his South African progeny in later years.
