A host of international Group 1 stalwarts are among the 61 nominations for the G1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin racecourse on Sunday 26 April, including last year’s winner Designs On Rome and the 2014 Dubai World Cup hero African Story.
This year’s race carries record prize money of HK$20 million, an increase of HK$6 million on 2014.
Six nations or jurisdictions have triumphed in the race’s 16 renewals since Audemars Piguet commenced its sponsorship in 1999. The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) ranked the race 19th among the World’s Top 100 Group 1 Races for 2014.
Designs On Rome, currently rated the third best horse in the world on official ratings, has added two more international G1 triumphs to his curriculum vitae since storming to victory in the 2014 edition, having landed the Hong Kong Cup and the Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup this season. African Story, meanwhile, warmed up for a title defence in next week’s G1 Dubai World Cup with a recent victory in the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 at Meydan.
Hong Kong’s 2013 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup winner Military Attack is another of the 18 G1 victors among this season’s 61 nominees. The UAE’s G1 winner Prince Bishop, a close second last time to fellow Godolphin candidate African Story, is another.
Hong Kong’s 17 nominations also feature this season’s HKG1 BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Luger and runner-up Got Fly, while the home team’s old guard is represented by Tony Cruz-trained dual G1 winner California Memory and his high-class stable mate Blazing Speed.
Britain’s evergreen globetrotter Red Cadeaux notched his biggest win in the 2012 G1 Hong Kong Vase (2400m) at Sha Tin, while fellow Brits, Euro Charline and Just The Judge, have scored their recent G1 successes in North America. Also among 11 nominees from Europe, trainer Pascal Bary could unleash Smoking Sun, runner-up to Dan Excel in last year’s G1 SIA Cup (2000m) at Kranji, Singapore.
Criterion heads the 12 classy Australian-trained nominees. David Hayes’s charge revealed a liking for Sha Tin when a length third to Designs On Rome in December’s G1 Hong Kong Cup. Stablemate Spillway won the G1 Australian Cup (2000m) on 14 March and is another that could make the journey.
Japan has won the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup three times (2002 & 2003 Eishin Preston, 2012 Rulership) and 12 horses from that quarter have been nominated this time. To The World was a close second to super mare Gentildonna in the G1 Arima Kinen in December.
The Peter Miller-trained Finnegans Wake could represent the USA in this year’s Audemars Piguet QEII Cup. The six-year-old landed a hat-trick of G2 wins when successful in the San Marcos Stakes (2000m) at Santa Anita last month.
“The Audemars Piguet QEII Cup is firmly established as one of the top 20 Group 1 contests in the international calendar and it is great to see that reflected in the quality of this year’s nominations. We have 44 nominations from overseas, and, of the total 61 nominated, 18 are Group 1 winners and a further 30 are Group 1-placed or have won or placed in Pattern races,” said Mr William A. Nader, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Racing.
“Designs On Rome was a brilliant winner for Hong Kong last year and the prospect of him defending his title against world-class rivals from home and abroad is an exciting one. Particularly exciting is the prospect of a clash of the generations with the recent BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Luger looking every inch a bona fide Group 1 horse.”
The G1 Champions Mile (HK$14million) will be held on Sunday, 3 May 2015, a week after the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup. Free entries for the 1600m event close on Monday, 23 March 2015.
Audemars Piguet QE II Cup (Int'l G1) – 2000m Turf - Entries
