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| Sumita Pawar |
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In preparation for Sunday's HK$28 million Gr. 1 FWD QEII Cup at Sha Tin, trainer Dennis Yip has issued a warning to Massive Sovereign's rivals, which include world-class stayer Romantic Warrior.
Despite being the youngest horse in the field, the 4YO has continued to improve since his last start victory in the BMW Hong Kong Derby. Yip is not worried about the possibility of a rain-affected track and is looking forward to what his horse can produce. Although facing more experienced competition, with two wins in his first two starts in Hong Kong, both at 2000 meters, Yip is excited about the challenge.
“My horse is just at the start and l’m excited with this race,” Yip said. “I think he will show you something. I think soft ground will be no problem for him.”
Yip has found the 4YO's calm demeanor to be a valuable asset, especially considering that it had already won two races for Aidan O'Brien in Ireland at 1400m and 1465m before being sent to Hong Kong.
“He arrived in Hong Kong last year in November,” Yip said. “Two or three days after he joined my stable, I felt he was a really gentle horse. He was not using his energy. He is very quiet and a gentle horse.”
“So, my target is for the long distances,” he said. “One of the races overseas was over 1400m and a mile he ran second in but he never ran over 2000 metres. The first start 2000 metres in Hong Kong it’s quite difficult, so I made different training for the horse to make him more fit.
“But, the timing was too short for him. I asked Zac (Purton) and he helped me a lot.”
According to Yip, Massive Sovereign's calm demeanor was evident in his ability to perform exceptionally well when given specific requests.
“I remember when he first joined my stable, Zac (Purton) called me immediately,” he said.
“He sent me a video of him winning overseas and said ‘this horse, I’d love to ride him because I think he’s got ability and he will show something in Hong Kong.’
“I feel he keeps improving. Last Friday, he trialled at Happy Valley. He really enjoyed the trial and finished very strong. After the trial he finished all the feed and keep him I think now is the right time for his performance to be very good.”
According to Yip, Romantic Warrior is clearly the horse to beat. Purton believes that among the three features, the FWD QEII Cup is the strongest, with the participation of horses from Japan, the local favorite Romantic Warrior, and the comeback of Dubai Honour.
“Obviously a massive job when he comes out of a Derby, so it’s a good test for him to see where he is at and that’s the exciting part about this stage of the season,” Purton said of Massive Sovereign.
“Coming through the Derby he has gone against racing against 4YOs here in Hong Kong to going against some of the world’s best.
According to Purton, there is a certain level of uncertainty regarding how good Massive Sovereign could potentially be. However, he did mention that he found the recent trial of the horse to be much better than the one preceding its first Hong Kong start.
“He has certainly come on,’’ Purton said.