With Mike de Kock having scratched Mubtaahij from Sunday’s HK$ 20 million Gr1 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong, local punters may want to consider Japanese hope, Neorealism.
Mubtaahij was diagnosed with carpal canal syndrome last week and De Kock decided against the risk of travelling the Dubai World Cup fourth placer.
Joao Moreira and Neorealism in Thursday track work
In the absence of a horse that would have been a natural sentimental pick, we are siding with Joao ‘Magic’ Moreira’s ride, the Japanese hope Neorealism, who rounded out last year with two efforts at a mile, both under Ryan Moore.
A fine third in the Gr1 Mile Championship at Kyoto and a fair ninth in the Gr1 Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin both suggested that the 1600m was on the sharp side, but the experience of the latter could prove vital to success on this return visit.
We believe Neorealism has a strong claim in this year’s race.
The six-year-old chestnut is a classic Japanese late-developer that is expected to peak this term. The Neo Universe entire impressed first-up this year with victory in the Gr2 Nakayama Kinen (1800m), but it is last year’s Gr2 Sapporo Kinen (2000m) win under Christophe Lemaire that catches the eye.
Against Neorealism will be classic-placed Dicton from France, Australian Gr1 winner The United States and a select home team that features last year’s runaway winner Werther, as well as two other past APQEII Cup victors, Blazing Speed (2015) and Designs On Rome (2014).
Magic Joao Moreira
But Moreira will be the hungriest jockey in the race.
With wins in each of Hong Kong’s December international races and Champions Mile scores with Maurice (2016) and Able Friend (2015), the APQEII Cup is the only one of Hong Kong’s six most senior Group 1 races that has so far eluded him.
Last year he sided with Japan’s Lovely Day, but the favourite was all-at-sea on the rain-softened turf as Werther sluiced clear.
“I’ve never won the race so it would be nice if I could,” he says, but he is not dwelling too much on his QEII blank. “I do look at these races but I don’t put pressure on myself to win those races I haven’t won. If it’s meant to be, then it will be. No one has everything they want!”
“I’m psyching myself up on that race where he beat Maurice, in the Sapporo Kinen,” Moreira says. “If Maurice was in this race, he would be a hot favourite! So, if he can bring that sort of form to this race, I think he has to be a winning chance.”
The Noriyuki Hori-trained six-year-old was raring to open up in Thursday track work when working on the turf under big-race rider Joao Moreira. The chestnut breezed down the straight in 56.8s (33.2, 23.6) for 800m.
Moreira said: “I’m happy with the horse, he’s well, he’s free and he’s ready to go there and rock ‘n roll. He gave me a really good impression and he should be fitter by Sunday. He has a big chance.”
Hori said: “Compared to last year’s experience coming here, the travel was very smooth. I saw the horse for the first time here this morning, he is very settled and he appears to be in good form. I was trying to decide whether to gallop him today or tomorrow but I opted to gallop him today because there was a bit of cushion in the track due to the rain. I also wanted Joao to have some contact with the horse, to get a feel for him before the race. Everything has gone well so far.”
1997 QEII Cup win by Alec’s Met winner, London News
The Audemars Piguet QEII Cup is the jewel among Hong Kong’s three spring features, with a purse of HK$20 million.
The first Queen Elizabeth Cup was run on the Happy Valley sand track over 1575m in 1975 and had many different guises and forms until it was opened up to international competition as a 2200m turf contest at Sha Tin in 1995. In 1997, it switched to the 2000m distance familiar today.
The race was taken by international visitors those first three years through Red Bishop (1995), Overbury (1996) and London News (1997), until the locals struck back with Oriental Express in 1998. Over the last two decades, it has been fairly evenly matched between locals and visitors, with 11 Hong Kong wins to nine for the raiders.
Recently, it has been a stepping stone to Horse of the Year glory, with four of the last five local winners of the race taking Hong Kong racing’s top honour that season – Ambitious Dragon (2011), Military Attack (2013), Designs On Rome (2014) and Werther (2016).
