LONGINES Hong Kong International Races Friday (11/12) track notes

11/12/2015

LONGINES Hong Kong Cup

CRITERION (AUS)
Had a steady gallop, under raceday jockey Craig Williams, on the all-weather track.
Trainer David Hayes said: “Very happy. We wanted him to do a little work, but not too much. He's gone seven furlongs (1400 metres) at about 14 seconds to the furlong. Just a good stretch of the legs. He's in good order. You'd rather be drawn closer than 13 but I'm not sure it's that bad. We've got the likely leader (A Shin Hikari) drawn immediately inside us and hopefully we can slot in.”

BLAZING SPEED (HK)
Trainer Tony Cruz said: “He’s better than last time, and he gave five pounds to Military Attack last time. He’s a Group 1 winner and if he gets a smooth passage, he’s shown that he can run a big race. The European horses are at the end of their season so they’re not in top shape and I think that gives our horse a big advantage.” 

BEAUTY ONLY (HK)
Trainer Tony Cruz said: “We were hoping for a better draw than 10 – we’ll have to ride him a bit quietly again because if we try to make an early move it could ruin his whole race. We’ll have to ride a patient race again, same as last time – it could be a bit late but he’ll be coming home strong. He’s better and fitter than last time and he showed last start that he handles 2000 metres.”

FREE EAGLE (IRE)
Turf work with Jockey Pat Smullen aboard.
Irish trainer Dermot Weld and his assistant, his son Mark, were at the track as Free Eagle came out on the turf for the first time this week. With Pat Smullen aboard, Free Eagle was not asked to do a great deal and returned to the quarantine stable with his trainer directly after he had cantered one circuit.

FREE PORT LUX (FR)
Worked on the all-weather under work rider Sebastien Lagrange. He worked 800m in 56.4s (29.6, 26.8).
Trainer Freddie Head commented: “Yes, I’m happy. He’s not a Group 1 winner and Free Eagle and Gailo Chop are genuine Group 1 horses. But you never know – it could be his day.”

GAILO CHOP (FR)
Cantered on the all-weather track.
Managing owner Terry Henderson said: “Antoine (de Watrigant) assures me he's happy. The horse is relaxed which is important and he's ticked over well through the week. The Wednesday gallop was enough for him to keep him up to the mark. He looks better but perhaps that's because he's been clipped. The Mackinnon Stakes was just his fifth run as a four-year-old and he's still relatively new to this level of competition but he does seem to be improving with racing.”

LUCIA VALENTINA (AUS)
Worked over 1200m in 1m 34.1s (33.9, 34.4, 25.8) on the turf under regular track rider and assistant trainer Mal Ollerton.
Mal Ollerton said: “She's had a really good week here and done well. I think she feels as good as she did in Melbourne and, if anything, I'd say she looks a little bit better.”

NUOVO RECORD (JPN)
Schooled at the starting gate.
Trainer Makoto Saito said: “As she galloped yesterday, she was not stiff at all this morning.  She is in fantastic form at this moment.  She is a very smart filly and copes with new things, so when she schooled the gate, she did not focus on the stall handlers at all.  She will start from an inside draw, so she can travel on the green strip on the rail. She will be suited by this turf, which is similar Bermuda-type turf in our country.  The owner has been very positive to send her horse to international races overseas, so my horse will have more options than before.  She will have an easy work on the all-weather tomorrow.”

STAPHANOS (JPN)
Cantered easily on the all-weather track.
Assistant trainer Kazuo Fujiwara said: “The Hong Kong Cup was our target at the end of this year, so we have tuned him up nicely and I think he is on his toes.  He ran well when second in the Group 1 QEII Cup in April, so hopefully he will be at his best and bring an even better run this time.”

LONGINES Hong Kong Mile

BEAUTY FLAME (HK)
Trainer Tony Cruz said: “Last time Able Friend gave five pounds to the other horses and that’s a tough thing to do. My horse is in great shape and can run first three but I don’t think he can beat Able Friend. If we can get a nice lead again that would be great.”

CONTENTMENT (HK)
Jockey Nash Rawiller said: “I’ve been looking forward to this race for quite some time now. I’ve had several chats with John (Size – trainer) and he’s extremely happy with the horse, he’s come through his last run very well and he’s a horse I’ve always believed has Group 1 potential. I think we can beat Able Friend, I think in a race like this you need some ounces of luck to go your way and if a couple of the others have a little bit of bad luck my bloke’s going to take advantage of that. He’s very adaptable, he’s got good tactical speed and I’m not at all concerned with the draw (12), I’m sure we can find a nice position.”

ESOTERIQUE (FR)
Cantered on the AWT and followed up with a parade ring schooling
Her trainer Andre Fabre was at Sha Tin for the first time this week as Esoterique and her stable companion Flintshire (HK Vase) had a quiet canter on the AWT followed by a school in the parade ring. The twenty-seven times champion French trainer said: “I think they are both looking well. Esoterique was not suited by the ground on her last start (in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland), but the track conditions should suit her better here.”

FIERO (JPN)
Cantered on the all-weather.
The assistant trainer Kazuo Fujiwara said: “His last race was only at the end of November and we have not had so long since, which is the same as last year.  We have figured out how tough it was for him, but what we have learned from last year helped us a lot. We hope to perk him up even more for Sunday.”

GIANT TREASURE (HK)
Exercised on the all-weather and clocked 1m 00s for 800m (32.1, 27.9)

MAURICE (JPN)
Cantered from 1200m pole and galloped on turf under Ryan Moore before he schooled at the paddock ring and the starting gate under the supervision of trainer Noriyuki Hori.
Jockey Ryan Moore commented: “We have only two days left until Sunday, so I did not ask him much, but he had a very good response and looks well indeed.”

MONDIALISTE (GB)
Worked a leisurely 400m in 33.1s over the Sha Tin turf course
Trainer David O'Meara said: “He just did light work. He's just following the same pattern as Canada (won Woodbine Mile) and Keeneland (2nd in Breeders' Cup Mile). These races around the bend seem to suit him and we've gotten to know the horse a bit better. At the moment he's been running well over a mile but there is every chance we will step him up in trip in due course. He's bred to stay further. Depending on how this goes, he could go to the Dubai Turf (on World Cup Night). He can run well fresh. We'll take it one step at a time.”

Owner Geoff Turnbull said: “His last couple of races he's learned to be a horse. He needs a little breather after this race. It's been a long, hard season. He's done fantastic things. At the end of the day, they can only run so many races.”

TOORMORE (GB)
Had a spin on the all-weather track under work rider David Thomas. He worked 400m in 28.6s.
Richard Hannon, trainer, said: “He’s done plenty of travelling and it suits him so there is no concern about his condition. Also this track looks good for him – he’ll love the turns. He beat Able Friend at Ascot back in June but I know that means nothing and  that he’s got a few pounds to find but it is much better to bring him from the UK for this great race than to have him sitting at home. He’s drawn a little wide but Able Friend and Maurice are even wider.”

LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint

DUNDONNELL (HK)
Worked 800m on the all-weather in 53.5s (27.8, 25.7).

GOLD-FUN (HK)
The likely race favourite worked 800m on the all-weather in 54.5s (29.5, 25.0).

GREEN MASK (USA)
Slow cantered one lap around the Sha Tin turf course.
Trainer Wesley Ward said: “We trained him yesterday with no shoes, he trained good. We went ahead and three-quarter shoed him today and he trained great. We are already at the race. The only thing I can do is set him back if we try to push him to see how he's doing. He's doing great, so let's just try to get to the race. He's always run in glue-on shoes. Sometimes the nails press up against the hoof wall, glue-ons they don't. He's been perfect in them. The first time we trained him around the training track at Santa Anita he grabbed his quarter. Then we had to work with that. Then he had that really fast work here on Monday, it was smoking, too fast and that irritated it. Green Mask was our freshest horse to come here. More lightly-raced than Undrafted, who has been back and forth to Europe. With this horse, post 11 isn't that much of a concern because he's going to come from behind. He's going to break, Joel (jockey Rosario) is going to ease him over and sit there, swing him out and see what we got. Tomorrow morning, we will do the same thing. If they mandate us to go to the dirt because we've worn out our number of turf goes, we will just jog him there.”

MONGOLIAN SATURDAY (USA)
Stood and watched other horses train for 10 minutes and then cantered one lap around the Sha Tin all-weather track. Apprehensive about walking past the cones on the turf course while headed back to the stabling area, the rider was forced to dismount and hand walk him back.

PENIAPHOBIA (HK)
Trainer Tony Cruz said: “Being drawn 14 is a big disadvantage but we’ve got Joao on board and we’ll be trying our best. He’s got the speed to get across but I reckon there’ll be a lot of pace in the race. The horse is tip-top fit - he’s 100 percent for this race. It’s a tough task though.”

SAKURA GOSPEL (JPN)
Schooled at the starting gate.
Jockey Zac Purton said: “I have not talked about any tactics with the trainer yet, but he is a very good sprinter and ran very strongly in the Sprinters Stakes last time.  The only thing I was worried about was the wide draw, and I just want to run him comfortably for his late kick at the finish.” 

SOLE POWER (IRE)
Worked an eager 800m in 53.9s (31.4, 22.5) on the Sha Tin turf course while under a tight hold.
Trainer Ed Lynam said: “Trained well. He was enthusiastic. Just did enough to take the freshness off. He's a bit fresh himself. Very happy with him. They say it (post position number 8) is a very lucky number over here, so we'll go with that.”

Owner David Power said: “We just wanted to expand his lungs a little bit this morning. He's a horse that wants to please and loves to go flat out, but the trick is to keep flat out until the race day.”

STRATHMORE (HK)
Worked the all-weather and clocked 26.1s for 400m.

LONGINES Hong Kong Vase

CANNOCK CHASE (GB)
Schooled in the parade ring and did a canter on the AWT under big race rider
Pat Smullen.
Sir Michael Stoute, 10-times British champion trainer, said: “He hasn’t done too much work since he arrived in Hong Kong because he didn’t need to. I could not be more pleased with the colt who comes here a fresh in-form horse after his win in the Canadian International in October. And he has still got potential for improvement.”

CIRRUS DES AIGLES (FR)
Carrying his head high he did some work on the all-weather track under regular workrider Zoe Gargoulaud. He worked 400m in 26.9s.
Corine Barande-Barbe said of the prolific winning veteran: “He’s pleased me more and more since arriving here and all the lights are on green. The gate is not so good but I don’t think it will matter to him too much.”

DARIYAN (FR)
Trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre said: “He’s a three-year-old but he has improved all season. He looks very well and he has a good turn of foot. Soumillon knows this place and if he has a clear run he will be competitive. He has more speed than his dam (Daryakana, the 2009 Vase winner) because he is by Shamardal. I think this is a nice track for him because he likes a flat track. He’s drawn six and it’s very important for him to be drawn in the middle, because if he does not have the speed at the beginning he can wait. He was one length second in a Group 2 at Deauville behind the French Derby winner, New Bay, who was third in the Arc, so his form is top level.”

FLINTSHIRE (FR)
Cantered on AWT and paddock schooled.
Flintshire exercised on the AWT with his stable companion Esoterique (HK Mile) watched by his trainer Andre Fabre. The French trainer said: “He’s well. If I have a concern I suppose that it is late in the year and it is quite a long time since his last run in the Arc.”

HARBOUR MASTER (HK)
John Moore-trained gelding worked 1200m on the all-weather under Tommy Berry in 1m 24.8s (30.4, 29.5, 24.9).

HIGHLAND REEL (IRE)
Galloped on the all-weather track.
Highland Reel stretched his legs on the all-weather track, watched as he has been all week by Aidan O’Brien’s travelling head lad Pat Keating. Afterwards Keating seemed confident of a bold showing from his charge: “That’s his final work out. He’s in very good form, and I’ve been happy with the way he’s been all week. I hope he’ll go well.”

HELENE SUPER STAR (HK)
Trainer Tony Cruz said: “He’s fitter than last time, he’s racing fit now. He pulled last start – he likes to have his own way – and he’s just a little one-paced, so we might have to let him lead and just let him stride on. He stays the trip and he’s drawn one, so we’ll just see what happens.”

MING DYNASTY (FR)
Easy stretch on the all-weather track before being paddock schooled.
Trainer Mikel Delzangles said: “He is just so relaxed here which is amazing as he can be a bit crazy at times...and hopefully that's a good sign. He's settled well in the stables and he's coped with the noise and all the people around at track work which I'm sure is good for his education.

“Today was just for entertainment. He's relaxed, he looks well, he's moving well. He did some more schooling in the parade ring. He was in the stall two days ago. Today we just lapped him around a couple times. Post three is very good for us. We can do anything from there. It would be perfect to race in a first four positions in a regular pace race, I don't know if it will be, but it should be okay.”