Pins son Ambitious Dragon Achieves Repeat Hong Kong Horse of the Year Glory

16 July 2012

Pins’ son Ambitious Dragon repeated his success of 12 months ago when he was crowned Horse of the Year for the 2011/2012 season at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Awards presentation ceremony yesterday.

After as fierce a competition as has ever been seen for the racehorse’s premierships, the five-year-old also claimed, for the second successive year, the title of Champion Middle-distance Horse and added the Champion Miler title.

The Tony Millard-trained Ambitious Dragon’s major achievements this season included successes under champin jockey Douglas Whyte in the first and second legs of the Triple Crown series – the Stewards’ Cup (HK G1-1600M) and the Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup (HK G1-2000M).

Other accomplishments this term for Pat and Jane Lowry’s star homebred included a slashing first up win in the HK-3 National Day Cup and placings in the Gr.2 Cathay Pacific Jockey Club Mile and HK-1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup.

WS stallion Pins also currently leads the race for the Centaine Award and sits third, behind barn-mate O’Reilly, on both the New Zealand Sires’ Premiership and the Dewar Award behind Zabeel and Savabeel.

The Corner with Garry Chittick

No Corner last week; this week the Annual Thoroughbred Racing Awards night certainly deserves acknowledgment. It is the second of two nights of measurement of Thoroughbred achievements for the year, with the first focussing on our Breeders’ awards.

9 September 2026

Savabeel’s Group 1 daughter Belle Cheval retired

Belle Cheval, by champion sire Savabeel, enjoyed a stellar career: placing in the NZ 1000 Guineas, winning the Almanzor Trophy and Uncle Remus Stakes, finishing second in The Kiwi, then claiming Group 1 glory in Australia’s Vinery Stud Stakes before retiring to broodmare duties.