Queen Elizabeth’s famous gold-braided, purple, scarlet and black silks debuted at the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races four years ago and with Her Majesty’s Dartmouth enjoying a productive season, a second Royal runner could line up at Sha Tin’s HK$83 million end-of-year showcase, on Sunday 11 December.
The Dubawi colt, successful seven times from 15 career starts, has progressed under the expert tutelage of trainer Sir Michael Stoute, who was also responsible for The Queen’s 2012 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) representative, Carlton House.
A talented three-year-old handicapper last year, Dartmouth has developed into a high-class Group 1 contender this. A pair of G3 wins in the spring preceded a smart Royal Ascot victory in the G2 Hardwicke Stakes (2400m) and since then the four-year-old has placed third to Highland Reel in the G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m) at that same venue and second to Erupt in last month’s G1 Canadian International (2400m) at Woodbine, Canada.
John Warren, The Queen’s bloodstock and racing advisor, said: “We haven’t discounted the idea of the Hong Kong Vase for Dartmouth. He has been very well since his second in the Canadian International and we will see how he is nearer the time.”
Dartmouth went down by a length to Erupt in that firm track encounter and could re-engage with his Canada conqueror, as well as last year’s LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) hero Highland Reel, in the upcoming edition of the HK$16.5 million Vase.
“Hong Kong is on the radar and the decision as to his participation will be down to the wire,” Warren said. “The horse has been tremendously consistent all year and it is absolutely the plan that he will stay in training next year.”
Stoute has succeeded twice from 17 attempts at the HKIR, with Soviet Line in the 1994 Hong Kong International Bowl (1400m), the fore-runner to today’s HK$23 million LONGINES Hong Kong Mile, and Daliapour in the 2000 edition of the Hong Kong Vase.
A Profitable first?
British sprinter Profitable, winner of the G1 King’s Stand Stakes (1000m) at Royal Ascot in June, could be heading to Sha Tin for the HK18.5 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m).
No runner from Europe has ever won the Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) but European trainers can take heart from the fact that Sole Power proved it is not an impossible task when taking second spot three years ago. On that occasion, the Irish stalwart defeated all bar one, and that one was the exceptional Japanese champion Lord Kanaloa.
Profitable would be Clive Cox’s first runner in Hong Kong and the four-year-old’s trainer said: “It is possible Profitable could go for the Hong Kong Sprint. There is obviously a fair gap between the Abbaye and Hong Kong, so we are going to let the horse take the lead and we will see how he is nearer the race,”
Profitable was last seen running a solid seventh of 17 in the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye (1000m) at Longchamp in early October and the Invincible Spirit colt’s best efforts to date have come at five furlongs, with all five career wins achieved at that distance. But the bay does have top-class six-furlong form in the book, too, notably fourth-place behind the brilliant Limato in the G1 July Cup (1200m) at Newmarket this summer.
“He is pretty versatile as regards to ground and, if we went to Hong Kong, it would be his first run around a turn. We would be hopeful that six furlongs around a turn would be more suitable than the straight six furlongs at Newmarket.”
The LONGINES Hong Kong International Races comprises the HK$25 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m), the HK$23 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m), the HK$18.5 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) and the HK$16.5 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m).
