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| Staff Writer |
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At the recent HK$118 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races held at Sha Tin, Hong Kong proved to have some of the world's top high-end talent. The Group One races saw Golden Sixty, Romantic Warrior, and Lucky Sweynesse emerge as the dominant horses in their respective divisions, winning three out of the four star-studded races. These three horses have won a combined total of 53 races, 19 of them being at Group One level.
However, trainer Caspar Fownes is looking to break their firm grip on the city's feature races with Straight Arron, a 5YO horse that he considers to be one of the most exciting horses in training. Despite finishing fourth in the Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, Straight Arron has been showing steady improvement with every race, and was only impeded from a higher position by Romantic Warrior, Japan's Hishi Iguazu, and triple Group One-winning Luxembourg, trained by Aidan O'Brien.
“It was a huge run, he got buffeted all over the place. It was a tough watch but these things happen – that’s racing,” Fownes said.
Sunday's result indicates that Straight Arron has even more potential to showcase. As he now embarks on a Gr.1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup journey, he is slated to compete against Romantic Warrior for the third time on February 25, 2024.
“You’re still happy to walk away after seeing that the horse is starting to show where he’s at, he’s picking up and fighting it out with some of the best staying horses in Hong Kong, as well as the world,” Fownes said.
In Hong Kong, Straight Arron has triumphed in four occasions, with his most notable victory being in the Gr.2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup last month. Interestingly, he began his career with a rating of 77, but after 13 starts, he has impressively increased his rating to 117.
“At this stage he’ll go to the Gold Cup and QEII Cup (G1, 2000m). We’ll obviously enter him for Qatar, Dubai and places like that but that’ll just be on the backburner as we see what’s going on and what’s happening in Hong Kong,” Fownes said.
This bay horse is the offspring of the renowned sprinter Fastnet Rock and the mare Imperial Lass, who secured the third position in the 2015 Gr.1 Queensland Oaks, just behind the famous Winx.
“It was a good effort (by Straight Arron) and hopefully he’ll continue on that upward spiral, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t. We’re looking forward to his next race to see how we go.
“It’s a big step up and I’ve always believed in the horse. I’ve always felt that he is capable of getting to the 120-plus mark, he’s nearly there now, he’s on 117 and he’ll get there for sure now.
“We want him to be consistent and we want him to win Group Ones,” Fownes said.
Focusing on his near-term objectives, Fownes will be introducing another Australian import, Fashion Legend, who will be making his Hong Kong debut on Wednesday night (13 December) at Happy Valley in the Class 3 Jordan Valley Handicap. Fashion Legend is a 4YO sired by Deep Field, and has already won five races in Australia, including the Gr.3 Vo Rogue Plate and Listed Magic Millions 3YO Guineas.
“He’s just coming along slowly. He’s really started to pick up over the last week a little bit more, which is nice to see. We’re starting off over 1200 metres and we’re drawn a little bit awkward, especially for his first run at the Valley.
“We took him there for a trial. We’ll take him back and hopefully we’ll see him make some ground – he gets further.
“He’s rated 76, which is a tough rating in Hong Kong, because if you can come in and compete straight away, you’re in business, but if you don’t it’s a bit of a drop to get him where he should be before progressing,” Fownes said.
Fashion Legend, one of the six entries for Fownes at the midweek fixture, will be starting from barrier nine of twelve and will be ridden by jockey Andrea Atzeni.
“He looks very healthy in the coat, he’s done everything right and we’re hoping to see him running on nicely,” Fownes said.
The nine-race fixture at Happy Valley on Wednesday will begin at 6.40pm with the Ngau Tau Kok Handicap in the Class 5 category.