HK breakthrough for Embellish

A change of stable paved the way for a first crop son of Embellish to credit our stallion with his first winner in Hong Kong.

Fortune Whiskey was making his third appearance for Group 1-winning horseman David Eustace when he returned to top form under rider Matthew Poon over 1200 metres at Happy Valley.

As Whiskey Lies, he completed a two-year-old hat-trick of wins at Ruakaka for trainer Kenny Rae when successful in the Winter Championship Final to fast track his sale overseas.

The now four-year-old had struggled to recapture his New Zealand form before joining Eustace’s operation but had finished an encouraging fourth placing in late December ahead of his winning run.

Fortune Whiskey was originally purchased out of Wentwood Grage’s draft for $12,000 at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale.

A half-brother to a brace of winners, he is a son of the Darci Brahma mare Champagne Katie whose dam Lycra was the Group 1 winner of the Ellerslie Sires’ Produce Stakes and the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes.