Inside gate advantage again for Talismanic

Who said lightning doesn’t strike twice? Godolphin’s Talismanic was in luck again when drawing the inside barrier position for Sunday’s G1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin.

It is exactly the same gate that he drew when winning the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar, California, on November 4.

Despite the 2,400m distance of the Vase, the draw is vitally important because of the relative tightness of the track. Jockeys tend to jostle for a position and hold on to it in the first 100m of the race.

Maxime Guyon, who takes over from suspended Mickael Barzalona, won the Vase aboard Flintshire for Talismanic’s trainer Andre Fabre back in 2014.

Lisa-Jane Graffard, Racing Manager for Godolphin France, said: “The same draw as Talismanic had at Del Mar, and considering his racing style, it should again be an advantage.

“He’s an adaptable horse, easy to place in his races, so hopefully he can make the most of it,” she added.

The Godolphin royal blue colours were last carried to victory in the Vase by the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Mastery in 2010.

Global Weekly Preview: Fabre poised for third HK Vase win

Godolphin trainer Andre Fabre can notch his third win at the year’s final big international race meeting, at Sha Tin, Hong Kong, on Sunday, with a well-travelled horse just starting to realise his great potential.

Fabre will send out in-form Talismanic, who is a key contender for the G1 Hong Kong Vase, over 2,400m (one and a half miles), a race that traditionally falls to an overseas visitor.

The 27-times French champion trainer has always thought highly of Talismanic, who enjoyed his finest hour when landing the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on November 4.

Drawn near the inside, he always travelled handy to the pace and proved too sharp and strong in the final stages for Beach Patrol and Highland Reel.

As a three-year-old, Talismanic carried Godolphin colours to a fine fourth in the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club, behind Almanzor, and he also finished 11th in Found’s G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, both races being run at Chantilly.

Talismanic again has an attractive inside draw, and again he must contend with Highland Reel, who this time is drawn wider than at Del Mar, in gate 8.

There is no doubting Highland Reel is a formidable rival, and already Europe’s greatest prizemoney winner of all time. But he will have to work harder from his wider barrier and there is a strong chance he will lead the field to the first turn.

Both Talismanic and Highland Reel stand clear of their rivals on official ratings, but local runner Gold Mount, who has 14lb to find on the book, may be able to sneak a place.

Fabre’s previous winners at the meeting both came in the Vase — Borgia (1999) and Flintshire (2014).

The G1 Hong Kong Cup, over 2,000m, has attracted an evenly-matched field of 12 runners, but the John Moore-trained Werther looks the one they all have to beat following his solid win in the G2 Jockey Club Cup at Sha Tin on November 19.

The G1 Hong Kong Sprint looks to be between two very smart local horses, Mr Stunning and Lucky Bubbles, while the G1 Hong Kong Mile is wide open, with French-trained Karar, who ran so well from a bad draw at Del Mar, holding a strong chance as the stablemates Roly Poly and Lancaster Bomber are both drawn wide.

fonte : Godolphin

Racing News: Joy and frustration as luck plays her hand at the LONGINES HKIR barrier draw

Steve Moran

Mr Stunning (red cap) drew 4 in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint.

The three arguably best credentialled Hong Kong-trained contenders Mr Stunning, Seasons Bloom and Werther fared ideally at today’s barrier draw for Sunday’s LONGINES Hong Kong International Races.

However, it was a case of the barrier blues for two of the world’s most successful trainers Aidan O’Brien and Sir Michael Stoute, and also for local training and riding legend Tony Cruz.

Only one of O’Brien’s five runners drew inside seven and his two three-year-old Mile contenders Lancaster Bomber and Roly Poly drew 11 and 14 respectively, which O’Brien’s travelling head lad Pat Keating described as “Disappointing”.

Stoute’s two runners – Smart Call and Poet’s Word – drew double figure stalls, while Cruz’s hasty departure from the draw ceremony may have spoken to his displeasure with Gold Mount and Beauty Only each drawing gate 12 – presenting a test for Wednesday night’s LONGINES International Jockeys Championship winner Zac Purton.

Poet’s Word was drawn 12 in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup.

In contrast, Hong Kong-based jockey Nash Rawiller was delighted to see Mr Stunning, the likely favorite in the Hong Kong Sprint, draw gate four. “If I’d had the chance to choose the barrier then I would have gone for four or five so the four’s just perfect,” he said.

Trainer John Moore was similarly pleased with Werther’s gate three in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup.

“Werther’s the flagship horse,” he said. “We wanted three, four or five – when the owner drew three, I couldn’t believe it. The owner did a great job drawing gate three, especially with Neorealism drawing the inside and Time Warp in gate five. The pace influences are all around us so they are going to go forward, so we are going to get the gun run. He’s got enough gate speed, so he’ll be tracking the speed. From our point of view, the draw is perfect.”

Seasons Bloom, one of the major local players in the Mile, came up with gate five, which looks ideal for the horse and champion jockey Joao Moreira.

Trainer Danny Shum said: “That’s good, a very good draw, especially when Joao knows the track, he knows the horse, he knows everything. He will be able to have the horse where he is comfortable. I’m excited for Sunday.”

The draw also smiled on Moreira’s prospects in the Cup with Japan’s Neorealism, on whom he won this year’s QEII Cup, being assigned gate one.

While Poet’s Word drew awkwardly, widest of the 12 runners in the Cup, his fellow Great Britain representatives Robin Of Navan and Blond Me drew four and 10 respectively, which pleased their trainers. Harry Dunlop, trainer of Robin Of Navan, said: “That’s a huge relief, it’s a good draw and I’m next to the favourite.”

Blond Me’s trainer Andrew Balding was unperturbed his mare drew wide. “That will suit her. I’d much rather that than drawing low,” he said.

The face value of the draw is not always what it seems and trainer Francis Lui had mixed feelings about his outstanding sprinter Lucky Bubbles drawing barrier one in the Sprint. No horse has won the Sprint from gate one at its current 1200m distance.

“Draw one again! We had draw one last start. It’s no good,” Lui said in reference to Lucky Bubbles’ ninth place in the BOCHK Wealth Management Jockey Club Sprint (1200m), on 19 November, when he was blocked for clear running.

“Although we did have the inside in the G1 last year (behind Chautauqua in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize) so it’s not horrible. The good draws were already gone so I am glad he got one rather than 11, 12, 13. It was best of what was left. Sure, we will need luck again but every race, you need luck.”

French sprinter Signs Of Blessing, who finished fifth from barrier 13 last year, fared better with gate five this time. “We’re very, very happy. Much better than last year. We are next to perhaps the race favourite (Mr Stunning) and it’s a stall which enables us to adopt the horse’s preferred tactics to go forward.”

Talismanic is another well-favoured runner from France, and the Breeders’ Cup Turf winner will break from stall one in the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m), the same gate from where he produced his international breakthrough performance at Del Mar last month.

Godolphin representative Lisa-Jane Graffard said: “He’ll have to take advantage of the draw but he is a very adaptable horse and very easy to place in his races. Andre Fabre arrives tomorrow and once he has had a look at the horse, he will decide tactics with Maxime Guyon.”

Highland Reel, third behind Talismanic at Del Mar, drew eight – one inside the gate from which he won the race in 2015. “I’d have preferred Highland Reel to be four to six but eight’s ok. The Cup draws are fine for Deauville and War Decree,” Keating said.

LONGINES Hong Kong Cup

Horse No.	Last 6 Runs	Horse	Wt.	Jockey	Draw	Trainer	Gear
1	–	DEAUVILLE	126	R Moore	2	A P O’Brien	B/XB
2	1/9	NEOREALISM	126	J Moreira	1	N Hori	XB
3	–	POET’S WORD	126	A Atzeni	12	Sir M R Stoute	XB
4	1/6/1/3/4/1	WERTHER	126	T Berry	3	J Moore
5	3/10/2	STAPHANOS	126	H Bowman	8	H Fujiwara	H
6	5/13/6/3/11/2	SECRET WEAPON	126	N Rawiller	11	C H Yip	TT
7	–	ROBIN OF NAVAN	126	S Clipperton	4	H J L Dunlop	XB
8	7	GARLINGARI	126	S Pasquier	6	Barande-Barbe	CP
9	2/2/3/1/1/1	TIME WARP	126	Z Purton	5	A S Cruz	TT
10	–	WAR DECREE	123	J Heffernan	7	A P O’Brien	XB
11	–	BLOND ME	122	O Murphy	10	A M Balding	XB
12	5	SMART LAYER	122	Y Take	9	R Okubo	H/TT

Last updated: December 7, 2017

LONGINES Hong Kong Mile

Horse No.	Last 6 Runs	Horse	Wt.	Jockey	Draw	Trainer	Gear
1	4/9/5/6/2/2	BEAUTY ONLY	126	Z Purton	12	A S Cruz	H/TT
2	2/7/3/7/5/1	HELENE PARAGON	126	T Berry	2	J Moore	H
3	9/10/1/6/2/5	CONTENTMENT	126	B Prebble	8	J Size	P
4	7/11	SATONO ALADDIN	126	H Bowman	4	Y Ikee	B/TT
5	12/11/3/2/3/3	JOYFUL TRINITY	126	G Mosse	10	J Moore	TT-
6	–	LIGHTNING SPEAR	126	O Murphy	1	D Simcock
7	1/2/1/1/6/7	SEASONS BLOOM	126	J Moreira	5	C S Shum	TT
8	7/4/3/7/1/2	HORSE OF FORTUNE	126	U Rispoli	13	A T Millard
9	–	KARAR	126	P-C Boudot	3	F-H Graffard
10	3/1/1/8/1/3	BEAUTY GENERATION	126	K C Leung	9	J Moore	B/TT
11	5/2/1/6/4/9	SICHUAN DAR	126	N Rawiller	6	A T Millard	TT
12	8/1/5/8/5/1	WESTERN EXPRESS	126	S Clipperton	7	J Size
13	–	LANCASTER BOMBER	125	R Moore	11	A P O’Brien	XB
14	–	ROLY POLY	121	J Heffernan	14	A P O’Brien	CP/XB

Last updated: December 7, 2017

LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint

Horse No.	Last 6 Runs	Horse	Wt.	Jockey	Draw	Trainer	Gear
1	1/1/6/8/2/1	MR STUNNING	126	N Rawiller	4	J Size
2	9/2/1/5/2/2	LUCKY BUBBLES	126	H Bowman	1	K W Lui
3	4/8/9/5/2/6	PENIAPHOBIA	126	M Chadwick	9	A S Cruz	CP/TT
4	5/9/1/3/4/3	THEWIZARDOFOZ	126	J Moreira	8	J Size	B
5	2/3/8/9/6/6	AMAZING KIDS	126	B Prebble	6	J Size
6	7/11/2/6/3/7	NOT LISTENIN’TOME	126	T Berry	10	J Moore	TT2
7	5	SIGNS OF BLESSING	126	S Pasquier	5	F Rohaut	SR
8	–	THE RIGHT MAN	126	F-X Bertras	13	D Guillemin
9	5/2/10/3/4/5	BLIZZARD	126	G Mosse	3	P F Yiu	XB
10	3/6/3/2/1/1	D B PIN	126	O Doleuze	12	J Size
11	–	STORMY LIBERAL	126	S de Sousa	11	P Miller	XB/TT
12	–	LET’S GO DONKI	122	Y Iwata	7	T Umeda
13	–	ONCE IN A MOON	122	Z Purton	2	M Saito

Last updated: December 7, 2017

LONGINES Hong Kong Vase

Horse No.	Last 6 Runs	Horse	Wt.	Jockey	Draw	Trainer	Gear
1	2/8/1	HIGHLAND REEL	126	R Moore	8	A P O’Brien
2	–	TALISMANIC	126	M Guyon	1	A Fabre
3	–	TIBERIAN	126	O Peslier	9	A Couetil	E
4	–	CHEMICAL CHARGE	126	O Murphy	4	R M Beckett
5	–	DANEHILL KODIAC	126	S Levey	10	R Hannon
6	5/6/3/1/2/6	EAGLE WAY	126	T Berry	5	J Moore	B
7	–	MAX DYNAMITE	126	G Schofield	2	W P Mullins
8	–	TOSEN BASIL	126	J Moreira	7	H Fujiwara
9	4/1/5/3/10/1	GOLD MOUNT	126	Z Purton	12	A S Cruz	TT
10	8/8/11/3/4/2	HELENE CHARISMA	126	S Clipperton	6	J Moore	CP-/H/B1/TT2
11	–	SMART CALL	122	J Crowley	11	Sir M R Stoute
12	–	KISEKI	121	M Demuro	3	K Sumii