Caspar Fownes Is Standing Firmly At Centre Stage With Senor Toba Poised For Doha Debut

The Father and Son Duo

“From an early age, I used to always enjoy going to the stable with my father when he was training in India. It was always great to follow him around and interact with horses, and you just get a lovely feel for the animal and how wonderful they are and how much joy they can bring into your life.

“It just gave us the opportunity, obviously I was a kid when I left India but once I came into Hong Kong it was just great to be able to follow my dad and start to really get into the actual part of the training aspect which really opens your eyes.”

He would assist his late father Lawrie for several seasons before gaining his licence in 2003 beginning a career filled with achievements.

In his rookie year, he recorded 44 wins,  before going on to be named Hong Kong Champion Trainer four times (2006/07, 2008/09, 2013/14 & 2020/21).

His CV glitters with notable wins which include Hong Kong Mile (2006 The Duke), two times Hong Kong Sprint (2011 Lucky Nine, 2021 Sky Field), two times Hong Kong Derby (2010 Super Satin, 2021 Sky Darci),Three times Singapore international sprint And two times Singapore international Mile and most recently back-to-back Group 3 Centenary Vase (2022 Zebrowski, 2023 Senor Toba).

Training Challenges In The Vertical City

Through all of the success, Fownes admits it’s a far harder task in Hong Kong than it may seem.

“It's really rewarding when you can get the job done.

“In Hong Kong, it's such a tough system because it's a handicap system and you're restricted to the number of horses you have in your stable. It’s not like other countries where you can go for the soft kill at a smaller track and we only race twice a week.

“So we really do enjoy every winner whether it's class five all the way to Group Ones.”

When he reflects on his memorable highlights to date, they come both at home and abroad.

“Being the most successful winning trainer ever at Happy Valley in the history of Hong Kong Racing is something I treasure.”

Fownes is known for his fine record at Happy Valley where he has notched 535 career wins – more than any other active Hong Kong-based trainer as well as becoming only the fourth horseman in Hong Kong racing history to saddle 1,000 winners in April last year.

“But you know it's so tough in Hong Kong, like I said to you before you just appreciate everything. So just fingers crossed we can continue to be successful.

“I’m going to continue to try to keep churning out the winners for somebody else to come and challenge once my career is over.”

A Career Glittering With Success

The vibrant 55-year-old Fownes is proud of the records, and achievements but remains excited for what is to come and laughs along when talk of potential retirement is thrown into the conversation.

“Well, I am getting on a bit, I am 55, but you're right I mean you know it's a sport that does keep you young when you're getting results you know.

“However, it also can age you when you are getting frustrated or the horses are not performing the way you want them to be.

“So, it's a lovely balance where you have to take the good with the bad and you appreciate the good times and then you have the bad times you knuckle down and say right, let's look forward to some better times.

“You know that's the great thing about our sport no one is above it. No one is better than it and it really sorts you out and keeps you levelled.”

Globe Trotting Toba

The horse of the moment flying the flag for Fownes is the 5YO gelded son of Toronado, Senor Toba.

He has three Group Threes to his name, a pair of those in Sha Tin while the third was achieved in Australia while trained by one of their best in Chris Waller.

Senor Toba had been on Fownes' radar and it came down to a case of destiny it seems with him joining the stable in Hong Kong.

“He was a horse that was on my radar, and actually my wife's brother, Clint Hutchison, a form analyst in Australia actually contacted me and told me about him originally.

“He said listen I think you should try and buy this horse, I think he is pretty smart. So, I had a look at him and I liked what I saw.

“Then I looked at the ownership and realized he was owned by some people that are based up in Hong Kong. So I contacted them and said I'd love to be able to train him in HK

“I think we have a lot of potential to go forward here and mould a horse that could really be quite special for us in years to come.

“When he got to us you could see that he was still quite green, Chris (Waller) had done a great job with him and got a great result with him. But he’s still improving.

“I think we will see the best of him at the age of six. He has a lot more to offer and the best is yet to come from him.’

The Doha Debut

The admission from Fownes around Senor Toba puts his opponents on further notice even after showing he can match them in Group company. He now prepares for Qatar in what is only the first step for his Middle East campaign, as the trainer said.

“Hopefully we can be very competitive there and then  five days later we plan to take him across to Dubai.

“The plan is to campaign him in Dubai and maybe if he gets invited then we’ll just go straight to the race on the big day but if not we may still give him a run in the lead-up on Super Saturday.”

Following on from his Middle Eastern assignments he will return home to Hong Kong where two races await him.

“In Hong Kong, there are two very nice races left for him at the end of the season. One is a handicap, the Queen Mother's Cup, over 2400, which is a distance he eats up.

“Then it's the Champions and Chater which is also a 2400m Group One. It’s a US $1.5 million-dollar race so 12 million Hong Kong.

“So it’s a nice race that will be high up on our list at the end of his campaign. It’s good money and that’s the reason we want to take these horses overseas because there is a lot of money on offer at the end of the day it's expensive to keep horses and you have to try and get a result wherever you go.

“If we travel into the success that opens the doors up for the future for us to be able to look at the program worldwide and see if we can campaign him to our advantage while trying to make some funds for the owner.”

The Jockey Challenge

When it comes to the jockeys onboard Senor Toba has had great Australian jockey Hugh Bowman on board for two of his Group Threes while successful Brazilian hoop Joao Moreira has partnered him for the third feature victory.

With Bowman and Moreira both engaged in Hong Kong and Japan during the Qatar Cup campaign riding duties will be taken on Brit Harry Bentley, as Fownes explained.

“I've opted to go with Harry Bentley as a six-time champion in Qatar and he has won this race twice. So I think there is no better person to have on the horse who knows the track

He is owned by the Willie May syndicate who Fownes is passionate about working with.

“They've got a big stud in Australia and they had a horse called The Autumn Sun who was a great horse who had nine starts for eight wins and is a top stallion. They owned him and they have a bit of a breeding game going on where they breed a few and buy a few, and this horse came up on our radar as I said.”

The Fownes Stable

The stable currently boasts a maximum number of 72 with 70 in training currently with another star bound for the Dubai sprints along with some up-and-coming younger crop.

“We've got Sky Field who is an international Group One winner and I am campaigning for him to go to the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai.

“He's a very honest and very consistent horse and he'd be certainly making his presence felt in a Group One like that.

“We've got a couple of really nice horses coming through the system.

“We have a horse called Viva Chaleur who is just starting to adjust to Hong Kong. He's taken a few races to come to himself and he's a chance to go into triple figures on his next prep.

“I've got some young horses that are lightly raced like Daring Pursuit who won his last race. He could be quite progressive and get certainly into class three two I would say easily.

“There’s also a few more that appear to be it's like anything you just have to keep them sound and hope that they can strike when you've got them in good form.”

With a crop gradually coming through hungry to show what they can do on the track Fownes does not downplay the importance of patience in this sport.

“It’s so important that we have a client that can trust us and just let us do our job. If they let me do my job they will get results. If they are on your back and pushy it simply doesn’t work with the horse. You are dealing with animals and some horses can come to hand very quickly while some horses can take a while.

“We come onto surfaces here where everything is firm and these horses from Europe, they're not used to that. Sometimes the good ones can adjust straight away and get through it and some will just take that season, season and a half to get the result.”

As the team prepares for the Qatar campaign it is the bigger picture for Fownes and his horses having taken them to Dubai over years past.

“We’ve never been to Qatar but we have been to Dubai a few times. I've run second there twice, then a few thirds and a lot of fourths so we have been around the money without winning.

His bucket list for future campaigns and races to target includes a few as he commented.

“I've been to Japan and got agonizingly close twice with shorthead defeats with good horses. So that's a challenge I want to go to Japan and snag a really big race there.

The Way Ahead

“Obviously I am married to an Aussie girl so I want to go to Australia.

“I would love to come down to Australia and have a little bit of fun down there and try to win a couple of good races.

“If you get the right horse, you're a chance to be competitive.

“So, I hope one day I get that superstar and I wouldn't be afraid to travel around the world and take on the best.”