It Rained…Thirteen Years Ago To The Day!

Hollywoodbets' Anthony Delpech fondly remembers

It was  thirteen years ago today that recently appointed Hollywoodbets Brand Ambassador  Anthony Delpech rode Vengeance Of Rain to victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse on Dubai World Cup night.

The Hong Kong-based gelding, trained by South African trainer David Ferraris, was the first Hong Kong -bred horse to win in Dubai.

31 March 2007 will go down as a memorable milestone in Delpech’s illustrious career.

The 2006/07 Horse of the Year, Champion Stayer and Most Popular Horse of the Year covered himself with glory on the international scene as well as at home in Hong Kong where he was Champion Middle Distance Horse and Champion Stayer in 2004/05, the season in which he won the Gr1 Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby, the Gr1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup and the Gr1 Champions & Chater Cup.

In December 2005 he also won the Gr1 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup, a triumph that clinched for him the 2005 World Racing Championship, and his other home victories included the 2007 Gr1 Hong Kong Gold Cup.

Vengeance Of Rain (photo: HKJC)

Vengeance Of Rain (photo: HKJC)

Perhaps his greatest moment came in March 2007 at Nad Al Sheba when he saw off opposition from many nations to win the Gr1 Dubai Sheema Classic – at US$5 million, the then joint richest race in the world on turf.

This success played its part in enabling him to take over from Silent Witness as the biggest prize money winner in Hong Kong racing history, a record he held until it was surpassed by his slightly younger rival Viva Pataca.

The 2007/08 Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Vengeance Of Rain died in October 2011 at the Cambridge Stud in New Zealand, where he was born and to which he had been retired in February 2008.

He was 11 years old.

Profile of Vengeance Of Rain:

Zabeel (NZ) – Danelagh (AUS) by Danehill (USA)

Owner Raymond Gianco Chow Hon Man & the Executors of the Estate of the late Chow Nam

Trainer -David E Ferraris

HK Record (1st-2nd-3rd-starts) / Total Stakes 9-3-3-24 / HK$75,410,500

Major Achievements:

  • 2006/07 Horse of the Year, Champion Stayer and Most Popular Horse of the Year
  • The first ever Hong Kong horse crowned in Dubai Sheema Classic (Int’l G1-2400M), the joint richest turf race in the world
  • 2005 World Racing Championship winner
  • Hong Kong prize money record holder (March 2007 – March 2010)
  • Winner of 2005 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup (Int’l G1-2000M)
  • Winner of 2005 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup (Int’l G1-2000M)
  • Winner of 2005 Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup (HK G1-2400M)
  • Winner of 2005 Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby (HK G1-2000M)
  • Winner of 2007 Hong Kong Gold Cup (HK G1-2000M)
  • Second in the 2007 Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup (HK G1-2400M)
  • Second in the 2007 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup (Int’l G1-2000M)
  • Third in the 2006 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup (Int’l G1-2000M)
  • 2005/06 Champion Middle Distance Horse
  • 2004/05 Champion Middle Distance Horse and Champion Stayer

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