Rocket Man, Dunaden put in moves ahead of International Races

Rocket Man, Dunaden put in moves ahead of International

Races

With jockey Barend Vorster in the irons, Singapore's Rocket Man, a dual Group

1 winner this season, worked 800 meters on turf Wednesday morning at Sha Tin,

going the final 400 meters in a solid :23.1 ahead of Sunday's Group 1 Hong Kong

Sprint. In his two most recent appearances in Singapore, the Viscount

six-year-old has taken to jumping shadows, and trainer Patrick Shaw had the

gelding equipped with a shadow roll Wednesday.

Sacred Kingdom, winner of the Sprint in 2007 and 2009 and a close third to J

J the Jet Plane and Rocket Man 12 months ago, makes his fourth appearance in the

six-furlong affair and is showing few signs of slowing down despite being eight

years old. Sixth to Rocket Man on that one's home turf in the Group 1 KrisFlyer

International Sprint in May, the son of Encosta de Lago has just one start under

his belt this season, a near-miss second to Entrapment when conceding that

then-undefeated rival 12 pounds in the Sha Tin Sprint Trophy Handicap on October

1.

"Sacred Kingdom is as good as I can get him," trainer Ricky Yiu offered.

"I've been really happy with these last two weeks of preparation, and now it

depends on how well he holds his condition. I've kept him fresh, he's a good

horse and we will find out on Sunday if he's as good as he was. The race is like

last year with similar competitors."

One would think a taxing effort in a race like the Group 1 Melbourne Cup and

a subsequent lengthy journey from Australia to Hong Kong would exact at least

some sort of toll on an equine athlete. But if Dunaden is feeling any hangover

from those events, he sure isn't showing it ahead of Sunday's Group 1 Hong Kong

Vase.

The five-year-old son of Nicobar, who races in the name of Sheikh Fahad Bin

Abdullah Al Thani's Pearl Bloodstock, worked seven furlongs over the Sha Tin

turf course Tuesday, streaking home to cover his final 400 meters in a sparkling

:22.5, with a final eighth of a mile in :11.08. Craig Williams, who lost the

mount for the Melbourne Cup due to a suspension, was aboard for trainer Mikel

Delzangles.

"He is just showing how well he is feeling in Hong Kong, in a different

climate at the end of a long year," Williams, formerly based in the region, told

South China Morning Post.

Delzangles was duly pleased with the move.

"He seems to have taken (Tuesday's) fast work very well and I am extremely

happy with his preparation," he said. "The Vase looks very open since Snow Fairy

went. The French brigade is good, and it will be interesting to see what we can

do here. Dunaden won on a quick surface over the distance at Geelong so he

should be all right come Sunday."

Dunaden, upset winner of the Group 3 Prix de Barbeville at Longchamp in

April, closed out the French portion of his campaign with a ninth in the Group 2

Prix Kergorlay, a race used by Americain as a springboard to Melbourne Cup

success in 2010. He prepped for the "race that stops a nation" by winning the

Group 3 Geelong Cup before outnodding Red Cadeaux at Flemington.

Cirrus des Aigles was perhaps past his peak when he finished seventh behind

Snow Fairy at 45-1 from a high draw in last year's Group 1 Hong Kong Cup. The

price will be much, much lower this time when the five-year-old son of Even Top

takes his shot this year.

The gelding will be making a remarkable 11th trip to the post in 2011 and has

been nothing short of sensational, with five victories including a last-out

upset of So You Think in the Group 1 Champions Stakes at Ascot on October 15.

Even when he has been relegated to second, he has covered himself in glory,

filling that spot when just a neck behind the great Goldikova in the Group 1

Prix d'Ispahan in May and missing by a similar margin to Sarafina in the Group 1

Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in June.

Whereas Cirrus des Aigles entered last year's Cup just two weeks after a

midpack finish in the Grade 1 Japan Cup, he is much better rested and in

dramatically better form than he was in 2010 and will take a lot of beating

Sunday.

"It went easier than last year because we did not go to Japan this time,"

explained Jean-Jacques Poincelet, assistant to trainer Corinne Barande-Barbe.

"The autumn in France was milder too (it was snowing over Paris early in

December a year ago)."

The fact that Cirrus des Aigles is race-fit translates into a pretty easy

time of things leading up to Sunday's race.

"He cantered a bit slower than yesterday on the all-weather, but over a

longer distance with exercise rider Zoe Gargoulaud up," Poincelet continued. "We

should get him to work on the turf with Fred Spanu on Friday. He has been riding

him regularly going into the big races and we want them to reunite over the

all-weather tomorrow before they actually work together. That being said, Cirrus

does not need much work here as he's done what was required at home before

flying over."

The home team will be well-represented in the Cup, with reigning Hong Kong

Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon and California Memory the leading chances.

The latter, a son of Pins, has become a fan favorite locally, given his gray

coat and penchant for barnstorming finishes. However, his last appearance, a

fourth at odds-on in the Group 2 Jockey Club Cup on November 20, was full of

trouble, as he could not find running room late and went down by 1 1/4 lengths.

Trainer Tony Cruz, who conditioned the immortal Silent Witness, thinks he can

do much better this weekend.

"He's a very easy horse to train and he's done very well since that race,"

the one-time leading jockey in Hong Kong said. "He should be right this time.

He'll be taken back as usual and we'll just have to hope the gaps come for him."

For as many top horses that the legendary John Moore has trained, only the

longshot 2008 Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint winner Inspiration has struck for the

stable in the modern era of the International Races. That has a reasonable

chance to change this weekend when Moore sends out a trio of runners in the

Group 1 Hong Kong Mile.

Xtension showed that he could compete at this level when he came from the

back of the field to win the Group 1 Champions Mile over this course last May,

but is in search of his first win since. Just touched out of the victory by

California Memory in the Sha Tin Trophy Handicap on October 30, the son of Xaar

ran on well for fifth, beaten under a length, by his stablemate Destined for

Glory in the Group 2 Jockey Club Mile on November 20.

"Xtension has done everything right in all his lead-up races, even from the

wide gate the other day -- he has had a perfect preparation," Moore said. "He

has been at his peak for his last two races and I couldn't get him any fitter.

From a good gate, he will be one of the horses to beat."

Xtension won the Group 2 Vintage Stakes in 2009 and was fourth in the Group 1

English Two Thousand Guineas in 2010 for trainer Clive Cox.

Moore also suggests that Destined for Glory is worth a longshot look this

weekend, calling him the son of Azamour the "dark horse" in the race.

"He has proved his ability to mix it at the very highest level, and given the

same sort of run as when he won the Group 2 (Jockey Club Mile) the other day,

you would have to say he has an each-way chance. He has a tendency to sweat up,

which is typical of Azamour's, so we will have to see how he handles the day."

The third of the Moore brigade is the classy Able One, runner-up to Good Ba

Ba in the 2008 Mile and victorious in the 2010 running of the Champions Mile.

The Cape Cross nine-year-old was the wire-to-wire winner of the Group 2 Jockey

Club Mile last year and was ante-post favorite for the big race, but was an

11th-hour scratch and has not had his picture taken since.

"Given that he's allowed to dictate in front, he's always a danger when

getting away with cheap sectionals and then finishing strong to the line," Moore

warned. "He's not yet showing his age he has very few miles on the clock and is

very well at the moment."