Cirrus Hong Kong Bound

CIRRUS HONG KONG BOUND 
Veteran globetrotter Cirrus des Aigles (Fr) (Even Top {Ire}), fifth as the favorite in Saturday’s G1 Qipco Champion S. at Ascot, emerged from that turnover in good shape and will now target Hong Kong’s International Meeting Dec. 13 for the fifth time, trainer Corine Barande-Barbe told Racing Post. 

Despite the 8-year-old’s favorable record on soft surfaces, Barande-Barbe noted that Saturday’s going may not have been to his liking. 

“He’s in good shape and feeling very happy with himself,” she told the trade daily. “He didn’t seem to want to engage fifth gear [in the Champion]. Perhaps something will come to light, but I think it is more likely that the race just didn’t go his away.” 

She added, “he was stuck wide the whole way and I also wonder if the holding ground didn’t really suit him. He loves it heavy but, given the problems he has had in the past, it was perhaps a bit greasy for him and I think that he maybe saved himself a bit on it. When the vets took him to be sampled after the race, he wasn’t sweating or blowing like the rest. He is entered in Hong Kong and if he seems well he will go.” 

Cirrus des Aigles made his first voyage to Hong Kong in 2009, finishing fifth in the G1 Hong Kong Vase, and has contested the G1 Hong Kong Cup in 2010 (seventh), 2011 (fifth) and 2013 (third).