Hong Kong’s seven-strong Dubai contingent will fly to the Emirates on Saturday, 21 March and their respective trainers have been putting the final touches to their preparations over the past few days, including John Moore, who is taking aim at the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic (2410m) with Designs On Rome.
Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year notched a third career Group 1 victory in the Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin on 1 March and remains in good form. The Holy Roman Emperor gelding had an easy time of it on the turf yesterday (16 March) and galloped 1200m this morning (17 March) on the all-weather track, both times under Joao Moreira.
Designs On Rome worked this morning in company with Same World and clocked 1m 19.1s (29.1, 26.0, 24.0).
“He’s right on song for the Dubai assault,” said Moore. “His work was impressive this morning and Moreira commented that he doesn’t need much more. We would like to go over to Dubai a little on the bigger side because we know they lose weight on these excursions. For that reason I’ve put a little bit of bodyweight on to him and hopefully that will counteract that.
“All seven Hong Kong horses fly Saturday night and arrive early Sunday morning. His groom will go with him because, as we all know, he’s a character - he’s got attitude,” continued Moore who has a busy couple of weeks ahead with the stable’s Dominant also due to race in Australia either side of Dubai.
“We are looking forward to the Sheema Classic. Design’s On Rome’s a real contender and we are going in with really high hopes. If he travels well and everything goes to plan he has got to be in there with a nice chance of winning it.”
Lucky Nine and Peniaphobia were in barrier trial action on the all-weather this morning as they too warmed up for the desert. G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen (1200m, dirt) entrant Lucky Nine strode out well to win his 1200m heat in 1m 10.0s, while the G1 Al Quoz Sprint (1000m, turf) candidate Peniaphobia clocked 1m 01.4s in winning his 1050m all-weather track trial.
“I’m happy with that,” said Peniaphobia’s trainer Tony Cruz. “Everything’s been straightforward with him.”
Last year’s Al Quoz Sprint hero Amber Sky was out on the turf on Monday - Ricky Yiu’s speedster went 800m in 50.9s (27.2, 23.7). And so too was Bundle Of Joy, who will attempt to wrest the crown on 28 March - David Hall’s charge worked 800m in 48.2s (24.9, 23.3) under Joao Moreira.
Rich Tapestry was second in last year’s Golden Shaheen when the race was staged on Tapeta. The Michael Chang-trained sprinter worked 1200m under Olivier Doleuze on Saturday. The Holy Roman Emperor gelding clocked 1m 16.0s (27.6, 25.9, 22.5). Meanwhile, the Tony Millard-trained Super Jockey, a late addition to the Golden Shaheen field, worked on Monday over 800m on the all-weather. He was timed at 56.9s (31.0, 25.9).
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