Military Attack (Oratorio) will contest Sunday’s HK$20 million Queen Elizabeth II Cup
(HK-G1) for the third straight year but for
the first time under the care of trainer Caspar Fownes, who is approaching the
2000-meter race with cautious optimism.
“It’s no secret he’s had his problems over the past few months,” Fownes said of the horse who won the QEII Cup in 2013 and was
a neck runner-up to Designs On Rome (Holy Roman Emperor) last year for John Moore, “but I think he’s quite
comfortable in himself at the moment.
“He’s had the niggling problems that good horses tend to
have. Sore feet, bit tight in the joints but I think we’re on top of them. He
looks really healthy, his bodyweight’s good and I was pleased with his trial and
how he worked on Wednesday.”
Fownes acknowledges the quality of Military Attack’s
opposition, headed by Designs On Rome and Australia’s Criterion (Sebring), but is not
bowing to either.
“You don’t ever concede defeat before the start,” he said. “(David Hayes’) horse Criterion is looking really good and we’ve got the
defending champ Designs On Rome but there wasn’t much between the three of them
in December.
“Who knows, Designs On Rome might be less sharp on the day
after the trip to Dubai, and, from gate 2, Military Attack gets his chance.
He’ll go forward, taking advantage of the gate. On his trial he’s going to be
very competitive. He’s a lot, lot better than he was last run and I think he’s
about where he was last December.”
The seven-year-old
has had four starts for Fownes, including a short-head second to Designs On
Rome, with Criterion a length third, in December’s Hong Kong Cup (HK-G1). He won his stable debut last October and was also a photo
second to Blazing Speed (Dylan Thomas) in the Jockey Club Cup (HK-G2) before December’s
international Group 1.
He returned to racing on March 1 and sported blinkers for
the first time when fourth to Designs On Rome in the Hong Kong Gold
Cup (HK-G1), and the blinkers will stay on.
“We’ll leave the cups on. Zac
(Purton) felt that he was distracted by all the signage in December’s big race
and that might have cost him the race,” Fownes said.
Hayes reiterated his enthusiasm for Criterion’s
prospects while acknowledging that the local duo, that beat him home in the Hong
Kong Cup, would again provide a stiff test for his recent Randwick Group 1 winner.
“I have great respect for the two local horses,” Hayes
said,” but I really think Criterion’s going to run a terrific race. Everything
looks to have gone very well. He’s a tick under 500 kilos (kilograms) which is
the same weight as when he won the Queen Elizabeth at Randwick.
“He’s had an uninterrupted prep this time around, in
contrast to December. He’s eating and drinking well and while the two weeks
between runs, with the travel, is always some concern I’d say I’m less worried
about that now than I was before he came here.”
Criterion cantered on the dirt this morning, covering the
final 800 meters in a relaxed :59 1/5, including splits of :30 1/5 and :29.
Japan’s Staphanos (Deep Impact) also put in a routine canter on the
all-weather track and moved well under assistant trainer Kazuo Fujiwara before
going off to the 1000 meter start for a walk through the starting gate. Staphanos
clocked 1:01 3/5, with splits of :32 2/5 and :29, for 800 meters.
“The horse was not shying at the gate or the stall handler.
Everything has gone as planned,” Fujiwara remarked. “He has been a bit tense at times here but is now
back in good form — he is in a good mood. The trainer (Hideaki Fujiwara), who
will arrive tonight, made the decisions whether to work him on turf or
all-weather and whether he needs the stall handler. I think he has now adapted
to the new surroundings. He walked very dynamically on the grass, too.”
Red Cadeaux (Cadeaux Genereux) continued his prep with an easy canter on the
all-weather track this morning. All appears to have gone smoothly with Ed
Dunlop’s popular world traveler.
Meanwhile, the Pascal Bary-trained Smoking Sun (Smart Strike) was
recalcitrant again. The dark bay six-year-old has developed a habit of stopping in
the home straight and this morning connections applied blinkers. They seemed to
help inasmuch as his rider was able to get the French contender moving again
with much more ease than on previous days.
He did put in some solid work down the backstretch,
clocking :51 2/5, with splits of :26 3/5 and :24 4/5, for 800 meters.
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