Hong Kong Vase | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Legend’ Unluckiest Among Favorites at Longines HKIR Draw

A total of 39 horses representing Hong Kong, Japan, Ireland and France were entered and barriers drawn Thursday morning for Sunday’s HK$95 million Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Although Boniface Ho’s Classique Legend (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) has yet to win a race at Group 1 level–he is a multiple Group 2 winner in Australia–he is one of the marquee horses of this year’s HKIR, having arrived in Hong Kong on the back of a dominating victory in the A$15-million The Everest at Randwick Oct. 17. Having come good in his recent trackwork for trainer Caspar Fownes, he figures to jump favourite for Sunday’s G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint, but his chances were done no favours by pulling gate one as the last horse out of the box at the draw.

“I was really hoping for gate five, to tell you the truth, all the way before the draw started,” Fownes told the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Leo Schlink. “He’s a horse that needs a bit of room. Anyway, it is what it is. Most people won’t complain about draw one. He’ll be ridden to get his chance and we’ll see it happens. Just going to hope that the legendary Hong Kong pace is on, like it always is, and then it’s up to [jockey] Vincent [Ho] to ride his race.”

Ballydoyle’s Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will also begin from the pole position as she faces seven other rivals-including three from Japan–in the day’s richest event, the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup (2000m). Ryan Moore takes the ride on the bonny mare as she tries to exact revenge on Win Bright (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn), who got just the better of the Moore-piloted Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in last year’s Cup. The latter will be having the final start of his career Sunday and carries Masami Matsuoka from barrier four.

Moore and Aidan O’Brien will also team up with Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who looms the main danger to reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Exultant (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) in the first of the four internationals, the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase (2400m). A barnstorming winner of the G1 Grand Prix de Paris in September, he was a fair fifth behind a modest pace when last seen in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland Nov. 7. He landed gate four. Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) won the Vase in 2015 and 2017 for Ballydoyle. Exultant, winner of this race in 2018 before a tough-trip third in his title defence last December, was beaten on the square by leading Cup chance Furore (NZ) (Pierro {Aus}) at both his previous starts this season, each over trips short of his best and at something less than peak fitness. He begins one stall to the outside of Mogul in five.

It was lucky seven for Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d’Oro) in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile as he goes in search of a first Group 1 himself and an 11th win on the bounce. To do so, he will have to take down the colors of Japan’s Admire Mars (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}), who became the rare 3-year-old to win the Mile 12 months ago. Moore takes the ride from Christophe Soumillon, who has been stood down owing to COVID-related issues (see related story) and will have to work out a trip from the widest alley in the field of 10.

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‘He’s Never Let Me Down’: Exultant Chasing Repeat Victory In Hong Kong Vase

Exultant is already proven as one of the best stayers Hong Kong has ever produced but this Sunday (Dec. 13) at Sha Tin he has the chance to take his place in the history books by becoming the first locally-trained dual winner of the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m, about 1 1/2 miles).

And champion jockey Zac Purton is going into the HK$20 million (about US$2.58) staying test with an aura of positivity that yet another consistent effort from the five-time G1 winner will see him challenge for a sixth top-level success.

“You always go to the races with a great deal of confidence with Exultant – he's never let me down, so let's just hope that he can continue to give us his best,” Purton said.

The Teofilo gelding has finished inside the top three 23 times from 27 Hong Kong runs, including 11 wins and nine second placings. The last time he finished outside of the top three was over 700 days ago, two runs before his 2018 Hong Kong Vase success.

“He means a lot to me – stayers in Hong Kong are rare and hard to come by and he's certainly been our best stayer the last few years – I've had a good association with him and I've won some big races on him,” Purton said.

Purton has been in the plate for the bulk of Exultant's (126lb) runs, through his Four-Year-Old Classic Series campaign and each of his five wins at the top-level.

“He's never let me down, he's always there he always runs well and if he gets beat he gets beat because another horse has had a softer run or is better than him on the day, but he's so consistent – it's very hard to find a horse that's as consistent as him,” Purton said.

Even before export under the care of Michael Halford at Copper Beach Stables – the bay was consistent, with two wins at three followed by a third-placed effort in the 2017 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas (1600m) behind well-regarded Churchill and dual G1 Dubai World Cup (dirt, 2000m) winner Thunder Snow.

Sunday will see Tony Cruz's gritty 6-year-old face six rivals, including Chefano (126lb), Ho Ho Khan (126lb), Columbus County (126lb), Royal Julius (126lb), Playa Del Puente (126lb) and the Aidan O'Brien-trained Mogul (121lb).

The O'Brien-trained galloper captured the G1 Grand Prix de Paris (2400m) two starts ago over subsequent G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe runner-up In Swoop.

“Mogul looks hard to beat, so let's just hope I can get a good gate – this horse for whatever reason always seems to draw a bad gate, he's certainly due to draw a good gate and hopefully he just gets a nice run,” Purton said.

The Irish-bred galloper has had two runs back this term for two runner-up efforts, firstly the G3 Sa Sa Ladies' Purse Handicap (1800m) before close defeat to stablemate and leading LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) contender Furore.

“I thought it was a good effort, the pace of the race was a little bit stronger than I thought it would be and Time Warp put the pedal down further from home than what I thought was necessary, so it really made it hard for those horses up on the speed which is where I was,” the Australian ace said.

“Furore sat right on my tail the whole way and came passed me under a hold, so it was a little bit concerning and a little bit disappointing that he was able to go past me so easily.

“Because Exultant is known for his fighting heart and his strong will to win, so while it's probably a nice performance it's maybe just a shade below than the performance he put in last year,” Purton said.

But an added two furlongs this Sunday, mixed with two runs already this term combined with a slightly smaller field than usual, serves as a recipe that bodes well for the four-time champion jockey.

“Now we go into the Vase and step out at his preferred distance after having a couple of runs under his belt in a race that doesn't look as if it's as strong as it has been before, we don't have as many Europeans, we only have one French and we don't have the Japanese – it's certainly a winnable race,” Purton said.

The post ‘He’s Never Let Me Down’: Exultant Chasing Repeat Victory In Hong Kong Vase appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Magical Looks To Exact Revenge at Longines HKIR

It has been 12 months since Ballydoyle’s Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was just beaten to the wire by Japan’s Win Bright (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup, but that outfit’s globetrotting Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will try to turn the tables as the marquee name among 15 foreign raiders for the Longines Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin Racecourse Sunday, Dec. 13.

No fewer than 17 international Group 1 winners are set to compete.

“The Longines Hong Kong International Races is firmly established among a select handful of the world’s greatest international racing occasions,” said Andrew Harding, Executive Director, Racing, for the Hong Kong Jockey Club. “To have entries of this calibre in any year would be notable but this year’s standard is remarkable given the challenge of the pandemic and all its attendant travel and quarantine issues.”

Magical, who took her career earnings to nearly US$6 million with her runner-up effort to Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Nov. 7, should be suited by the cutback to the 2000m for the Cup, a distance at which she defeated world’s top-rated runner Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in September’s G1 Irish Champion S. and future G1 Cox Plate hero Sir Dragonet (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) for a title defence in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup this past July. A victory would make her the winningest Ballydoyle runner at Group 1 level with eight.

Ballydoyle has supplemented GI Breeders’ Cup Mile upsetter Order of Australia (GB) (Australia {GB}) to the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile and he is joined by Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), who completed an Aidan O’Brien 1-2-3 sweep. G1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), fractionally disappointing when fifth in the Turf, looks to become a third winner of the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase for O’Brien, while G1 Irish 1000 Guineas victress Peaceful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) joins Magical in the Cup.

Up-and-coming French trainer Jerome Reynier has two runners engaged for the HKIR. The underrated Skalleti (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) has finished out of the top three just once in 16 career starts and exits a runner-up effort–with Magical third–to the soft-ground loving Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) in the G1 QIPCO British Champion S. Oct. 17. Royal Julius (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}) adds Hong Kong to his passport, having finished second in the HH The Emir’s Trophy in Qatar before winning the 2019 Bahrain International Trophy. He’ll take his shot in a compact field in the Vase.

Win Bright looks to run his record over the Sha Tin 2000 metres to three-from-three as he attempts to give Japan a fourth Cup in the last six runnings, and tries to join California Memory (Highest Honor {Fr}) as just the second horse to go back-to-back in the day’s richest event. Admire Mars (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}), one of three Japanese-based winners last year, looms the chief threat to locally based Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d’Oro) in the Mile, and Danon Premium (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), second to Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), and G1 Victoria Mile winner Normcore (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) line up in the Cup. Danon Smash (Jpn), a son of two-time G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint winner Lord Kanaloa, and Godolphin’s Tower of London (Jpn) (Raven’s Pass) are entered for the 1200-meter dash.

Inferno (Aus) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) represents Singapore and faces a big ask against the likes of Classique Legend (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) and Hot King Prawn (Aus) (Denman {Aus}) in the Sprint. He has conquered all before him at Kranji and has earned the right to compete at this level.

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