A Kentucky-bred horse. A Mongolian owner and trainer. A French jockey.
Welcome to the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races.
Mongolian Saturday, a contender for Sunday’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), is owned by Ganbaatar Dagvadorj and trained by Ganbat Enebish, both natives of Mongolia.
“I bought my first horse in 1995 and gave it to a Mongolian trainer for long distance races, 25 kilometres,” Enebish said. “In 2000 I began to train for myself. Now I have about 200 horses in Mongolia, including foals, mares, starters. Not expensive horses like thoroughbreds. Several people are working for me in Mongolia.”
Enebish was content in his native land, but his aspirations had far greater reaches.
“Five years ago I told my friend (Ganbaatar Dagvadorj of Mongolian Stable), let’s go to a bigger market,” Enebish explained. “We explored Japan, Australia, Europe and America. We went everywhere. We decided on America. It was easier to begin. Not too many laws.”
Dagvadorj, a wealthy Mongolian business man, has his hands in several industries in his home country, including oil, construction, mining, food and hotels. He was agreeable to Enebish’s expansion plan, and subsequently established Mongolian Stable.
Admittedly, the transition to American racing took some time.
“It’s a different style,” Enebish explained. “Maybe we train sixty percent the American way and forty percent the Mongolian way. There is some difference between long distance and short distance, but a horse is a horse.”
“(The) most important thing, Mongolian people have a good feel for the horse,” he continued. “How to read their eye, colour, stomach, muscle. We change things in training every day. (It) depends on what the horse looks like.”
Mongolian Saturday’s journey to Sunday’s LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint is almost as unique as that of his connections.
Purchased as a yearling for US$60,000, he could have been had for a mere US$25,000 via the claiming box in his first career start back in May of 2013 at Arlington Park. He won that Polytrack sprint race by nearly 11 lengths, but it wasn’t until earlier this year that he truly legitimised himself, placing in three Graded turf sprint stakes before pulling off a 15/1 upset in his most recent start, the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Keeneland.
“I was thinking he would be first or second, but I bet win and place,” Enebish said with a chuckle. “I don’t know how the bets work in Hong Kong. I think I should find someone to show me.”
Jockey Florent Geroux, a native of France and now a rising star in American racing, has partnered Mongolian Saturday in his last two starts.
“He’s a very nice horse,” Geroux said. “I’ve been trying to get on him for quite a few times but being out of town with other horses it didn’t work out until recently. Being from (based at) Arlington Park, these people have been big fans of mine. They always root for me in the big races and now we are doing it together.”
That journey continues on Sunday.
“We won the Breeders’ Cup and got an invite to come to Hong Kong, so we came,” Enebish said. “He is not an easy horse to train. (He has a) mind of his own. If we do something wrong, he gets a bit crazy and other times he just doesn’t pay attention. When he does everything right he’s very good.”
Now that Enebish and Dagvadorj have gotten a taste of International racing, they crave it even more. The Mongolian Stable U.S. operation recently expanded to include a farm in Kentucky where they house eight broodmares.
“We spent $100,000 on a horse at the Keeneland September sale, which is more than we ever have before,” Enebish added. “Hong Kong, Dubai, Japan, England, we want to experience the world with our horses. When we came to the U.S. we thought we would have big success in a year but it took longer when we thought. This (Mongolian Saturday) is our best horse (so far), but now we understand how to succeed better.”
Following Sunday’s LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, Mongolian Saturday will winter at Gulfstream Park in Florida.
“We are not sure where we are going to go next with him,” Enebish said. He will get a month off. A very smart person once said, we never know what will happen tomorrow, so we will seize the opportunities of today.”
