QEII Challengers In Good Shape

Ertijaal (Aus) (Hard Spun) looked on good terms with himself on Monday morning when breezing on the turf track at Sha Tin ahead of Sunday's G1 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup. The Mike De Kock-trained 4-year-old went 1200 metres, covering the last 400 metres in :25 seconds even. The colt is bidding to win his first Group 1 outside of South Africa when he lines up on Sunday and arrives on the back of a fourth-place position behind Real Steel (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Dubai Turf at Meydan last month.

De Kock's assistant trainer Trevor Brown is happy with Ertijaal's condition and said, “The horse has done well and he's quite adaptable. He looks to have adjusted well to the surroundings here and is working along as we'd hope.”

Also given the thumbs up was the Aidan O'Brien-trained Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Pat Keating is on hand in Hong Kong overseeing preparations with the 4-year-old, who already has a course win to his name when beating Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}) in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase last December.

“The horse travelled well,” said Keating. “He's a pretty seasoned traveller now and he's settled in well.”

That's certainly no exaggeration when you consider Highland Reel's last six runs have been in Britain, USA, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong and Dubai. The Coolmore runner drops back two furlongs on Sunday after finishing fourth to Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan, but Keating is not overly concerned with the trip.

“He's a versatile galloper and the trip's no problem,” said Keating. “He did win the [GI] Secretariat S. at the distance and was good behind Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) in the [G1] Cox Plate. That form has held up.

The race is shaping up to be a thriller with a classy home defence headed by the likes of Designs On Rome (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and Werther (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) in addition to the Japanese challengers Satono Crown (Jpn) (Marju {Ire}) and Nuovo Record (Jpn) Heart's Cry {Jpn}).