Beauty Destiny continues remarkable transformation with dominant Valley win
by Jay Rooney on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 11:09 PM Andrea Atzeni gives Beauty Destiny a pat as he soars to victory at Happy Valley. Photos: Kenneth Chan
Beauty Destiny continued his stunning transformation from a hard-charging, tail-swishing horse to an emerging sprinter with a fourth win from his past five starts at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.
Despite flashing big potential in his early trials, Beauty Destiny used to be his own worst enemy on race day when racing greenly and too keenly.
But this season is a different story, with the Frankie Lor Fu-chuen-trained gelding finally delivering the goods after learning to settle in his races.
The son of Star Turn started his rich vein of form with back-to-back Class Four triumphs in November, before handling the leap to Class Three with a close second to Aurora Lady and a narrow win last month. — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) February 19, 2025
On Wednesday night, he overcame top weight of 135 pounds to score a decisive victory in the first section of the Class Three Ma Wan Handicap (1,200m) under Andrea Atzeni.
'When he started racing, he trialled good and the jockeys said he was a really good horse,' Lor said. 'But in his races, he would jump fast and go forward and couldn't finish.
'He put his head up and swished his tail. Now he sits back, relaxes and settles and he's like a totally different horse. I think he's learning and the jockeys say every race he's improving and improving.'
After settling midfield on the inside rail, Beauty Destiny again unleashed a powerful turn of foot to soar to the lead approaching the 100m and shoot clear. He scored by a length and a quarter from King Of Fighters, with Aurio close behind in third.
Lor and Atzeni are confident the Star Turn five-year-old can continue his hot form when he steps up to Class Two level on his next start.
'It's never easy to carry top weight in these Class Threes and I thought it was a very competitive race,' Atzeni said.
'He was impressive again and Frankie keeps on improving him. In his early days, even when he was trialling, he always looked like a proper horse – he's really turned the corner now.'
Beauty Destiny capped a double for Atzeni after he earlier booted home Me Tsui Yu-sak's Thesis in the Class Four Rotary Centenary Challenge Cup (1,650m).
The former British galloper ended Tsui's winning drought of 67 runners, with his last success on December 4.
Elsewhere, Avdulla joined Atzeni with a double after booting home the Mark Newnham-trained Same To You and Tony Cruz's Gustosismo.
'I had a competitive book and thought most of them could run well. I ended up with two winners, a second and two thirds, so it was a good night,' Avdulla said. 'It's been a good month and a half. Getting the right opportunities obviously helps.'
Newnham and Cruz shared training honours with doubles – the former striking in the first two races with Same To You and Tactical Command.
After ending a mini-drought with his first win at the city circuit since Boxing Day, Newnham said: 'That gets a bit frustrating, but we've had a lot of horses that won early in the season and they went up in the ratings.'
'Now they've sort of found their level. Same To You won on the first day of the season and then he's got back to a rating where he can win again. Tactical Command's been dying to win a race, he just needed the right circumstances.'
Cruz and jockey Ben Thompson teamed up with Fallon to win the Class Three Consensus Cup (1,800m), before the handler denied Newnham a treble when Gustosismo held off Spicy Gold.
Meanwhile, star French galloper Goliath is bound for the Group One QE II Cup (2,000m) at Sha Tin in April after part-owner John Stewart announced the Champions Day plans on Wednesday night.
The Francis-Henri Graffard-trained Goliath beat a world-class field to claim the Group One King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2,400m) at Ascot last July.
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