“He’s not just beaten them, he’s given them an absolute hiding” was the commentary from Sha Tin as Variety Club gave the world’s best a galloping lesson in today’s Hong Kong Champions Mile
Watch Variety Club contest the 2014 Hong Kong Champions Mile on the Dubai Racing live stream
“He looks well this morning. He’s a very tough, very sound horse. He’s the same weight, exactly, to the kilo, as he was when he won the Godolphin Mile on World Cup night.”
Hong Kong-trained horses have won each of the nine editions since the race was opened to overseas runners. Can Variety Club turn the tables?
Trainer Mike de Kock inspected the horse, this morning, in the quarantine stables and advised that he did not require any further work.
“It’s Hong Kong and they don’t generally just hand you the lead here. He generally goes forward but he has been ridden off the pace and won at home in South Africa. We’ll have a think about what we might do,” says Trevor Brown
“You’ve got to respect them” says Trevor Brown of their rivals in this Sunday’s Hong Kong Mile. “They grind and then they kick.”
Dual South African Horse of the Year Variety Club steps out for his first track work session at Sha Tin
“If someone asked me if I could ride I wanted to be able to say yes” Some people make their own luck, and Andrew Nienaber does not let opportunity slip through his fingers
The brilliant dual SA Horse Of The Year Variety Club surprised defending champion Soft Falling Rain to win the $1 million Godolphin Mile at Meydan last Saturday.
What a fantastic week and weekend we have had, plenty of celebrations along with some sadness when we had to say goodbye to Variety Club.
Any ideas for likely riders? Have your say
