Stellar Fields for Longines HKIR

With some HK$83 million (US$10.7 million) up for grabs, one would expect the best horses from all corners of the world to descend on Sha Tin Racecourse for the Longines Hong Kong International Races. That proved very much to be the case when the fields for the so-called ‘World Turf Championships’ were announced Wednesday morning, as no fewer than 33 Group 1/Grade I winners from seven jurisdictions are among the 56 horses invited to the event, to be staged Sunday, Dec. 13.

“The Longines Hong Kong International Races is well-established in the elite echelon of the sport’s most prestigious occasions: it offers outstanding prize money, it delivers a fantastic atmosphere, and most importantly it showcases exceptional talent from across the world,” said Bill Nader, executive director of racing for the Hong Kong Jockey Club. “In keeping with that tradition, we are pleased to see, once again, such a depth of quality to this year’s selected runners, with 33 individual winners of 64 G1 races.

Nader continued, “Here in Hong Kong we have a strong contingent of talented, international-calibre horses, notably the outstanding Able Friend, but at this year’s HKIR our home team will face perhaps its toughest test of recent times. Looking at the 33 talented overseas challengers. we have some of the most exciting horses in the world heading for Sha Tin on the second Sunday in December. This is international racing at the highest level and everyone is in for a real treat.”

This Cup Runneth Over…

Three of the four defending champions from the 2014 renewal are back–only the sidelined Aerovelocity (NZ) (Pins {Aus}) will be absent–to try to follow up on their success, but in contrast to years past, each of the events has a wide-open feel to it. Designs On Rome (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) will have ‘Magic Man’ Joao Moreira back in the irons as he tries to make it back-to-back wins in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup, which at HK$25 million (US$3.2 million) is the day’s richest and final event. Though locally based gallopers have annexed the last four runnings, eight raiders will try to snap the streak, chief among them being Moyglare Stud’s Free Eagle (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}). The 4-year-old, who will have his final start before retiring to the Irish National Stud, took a salty renewal of the G1 Prince of Wales’s S. at Royal Ascot first off an October hiatus this past June and was hampered badly by Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) when third in the G1 Irish Champion S. in September. His sixth to Golden Horn in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was not without merit and the 2000-meter trip should be right up his alley. Ironically, Moyglare Stud also bred Designs On Rome. Agnes Digital (Crafty Prospector) is the last Japanese horse to succeed in the Cup, but Staphanos (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) should garner a fair bit of support to halt that skid. One of a record 10 horses from Japan scheduled to make the trip, the 4-year-old was runner-up to Blazing Speed (GB) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) and ahead of Criterion (NZ) (Sebring {Aus}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup over the course and trip in April. He exits an excellent second in the G1 Tenno Sho at Tokyo Nov. 1.

Moore/Moreira Vs. Moore in Mile…

One of the afternoon’s more-anticipated clashes comes in the HK$23 million (US$2.97 million) G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile, in which the world’s top-rated miler Able Friend (Aus) (Shamardal) will look for a second straight win, but will have to deal with the talented G1 Yasuda Kinen and G1 Mile Championship winner Maurice (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}), the mount of Ryan Moore. The hulking Able Friend, trained by John Moore and scheduled to be ridden by Joao Moreira, suffered a rare defeat on home turf at the hands of the opportunistic Beauty Flame (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) in the G2 Jockey Club Mile Nov. 21, but the dynamics of that race worked against him and he is probably best forgiven for the effort. Form of the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile is represented by the David O’Meara-trained GI Woodbine Mile hero Mondialiste (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who flashed home to be an outstanding runner-up behind Tepin (Bernstein). “He travelled to and from the Breeders’ Cup really well and has come out of the race in great form,” said O’Meara. “The configuration of Sha Tin is probably more like Woodbine rather than Keeneland in the fact that you only have one turn. At Keeneland, you have two turns for the mile. The track at Sha Tin should be fine,” he added. Esoterique (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) will try to become the first member of the fairer sex to beat the boys in the Mile since Sunline (NZ) defeated Fairy King Prawn (Aus) (Danehill) in a renewal for the ages in 2000. Winner of the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest in August and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois a week apart in August, she added the G1 Sun Chariot S. at Newmarket Oct. 3, but may have struggled with the ground in the Breeders’ Cup, finishing seventh.

A Power-Packed Renewal of the Vase…

Typically the ‘black sheep’ of the HKIR family, this year’s HK$16.5-million (US$2.1 million) G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase may lack horses of the quality of a Golden Horn or Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), but should be the best edition of the race in some time. No fewer than 11 of the 14 selected runners have succeeded at the highest level, including Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who proved a popular winner of the Vase in 2014, but has horses much better than Willie Cazals (Ire) (Aussie Rules) and Khaya (NZ) (Librettist) to deal with this time around. Trainer Chris Waller, so successful across Australia, will be represented by his first runner at the meeting in the form of Preferment (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}). The 2014 G1 Victoria Derby hero going 2500 meters, the 4-year-old was back to his best when proving narrowly best in the G1 Turnbull S. at Flemington Oct. 4. Well down the field in the G1 Cox Plate and G1 Melbourne Cup, he returns to arguably his best trip for this. Ed Dunlop, who sent out the late Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) to win the 2012 Vase, is set to be represented by Trip to Paris (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}), second in the G1 Caulfield Cup Oct. 17 ahead of an excellent fourth in the Melbourne Cup. His participation in the Vase could hinge on his performance in this Sunday’s G1 Japan Cup, as could that of G1 Grand Prix de Paris winner and Arc fifth Erupt (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) as well as Germany’s G1 Grosser Preis von Baden hero Ito (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}). Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the GI Secretariat S. victor and G1 Cox Plate third, and GI Canadian International S. scorer Cannock Chase (Lemon Drop Kid) add further depth to an outstanding field. And no mention of the Vase or, indeed of the HKIR, would be complete without Cirrus des Aigles (Fr) (Even Top {Ire}), who makes a remarkable seventh trip to Hong Kong at the age of nine.

Sprint Attracts a Pair of Americans…

The absence of top Australian sprinter Chautauqua (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) has robbed the HK$18.5 million (US$2.4 million) G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint of some of its intrigue, but six foreigners will take on the locals, who have accounted for 10 of the last 13 runnings. Mongolian Saturday (Any Given Saturday), who upset the field from his high draw in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint Oct. 31, adds plenty of color to the Sprint, given his Mongolian connections, while Green Mask (Mizzen Mast), a running-on third in the Turf Sprint, invades for the always dangerous Wesley Ward. Sole Power (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), runner-up to Japan superstar Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) in 2013, makes his fourth trip over for the race, while the Land of the Rising Sun is represented by Straight Girl (Jpn) (Fuji Kiseki {Jpn}), last year’s third-place finisher who defeated Sakura Gospel (Jpn) (Sakura President {Jpn}) in the G1 Sprinters’ S. Oct. 4, with Mikki Isle (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) a close fourth. The home team is led by Gold-Fun (Ire) (Le Vie Dei Colori {GB}) and last year’s runner-up Peniaphobia (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who ran the quinella in the G2 Jockey Club Sprint Nov. 21.