Hong Kong Classic Emperor Ready For Dubai Debut
Hong Kong’s first runner of the Dubai World Cup Carnival will be an intriguing one on Thursday at Meydan Racecourse. Classic Emperor, a highly touted dirt horse in said racing district, has shipped in and appears to be thriving for trainer Chris So and owner Li Fung Lok. Rated 103, the miler son of Medaglia d’Oro sports a career record of 6-3-4 from 28 starts and exits three strong runs, including a win in a Class 2 handicap at Sha Tin on January 13th.
Chris So, one of the top trainers in Hong Kong, was on hand Wednesday morning to watch his horse train ahead of his first local test the following evening. With an eye on the Gr.2 Godolphin Mile on March 31st, he will get a good gauge on his horse’s chances when taking on 2017 Godolphin Mile runner-up Ross in Race 6, the $125,000 District One Mediterranean over 1600m.
“In Hong Kong, we don’t have much for horses rated over 100 on the dirt, so that’s one of the reasons we brought him here,” So said. “He’s doing quite well. We wanted to send him here and the racing style is more suitable for him because he’s handy and can go forward or wait. We are quite sure he can handle the track here.”
Classic Emperor went through a routine gallop on Thursday over the main track at Meydan and appeared on his toes and ready to compete – a good sign for any shipper. If he is to be successful on Thursday, he will do so around a left-handed turn, which is something he has yet to do in a race.
“It’s hard to handle the turn,” So explained. “We sent him to a left-turned track for 10 days in Hong Kong to train over it. With training here, he would have had almost a month training over the left turn.
“We’ll see how he runs,” he concluded. “Our target is World Cup (night). If he does well and runs okay, we may skip Super Saturday and go right into the race. If not, we will probably race him once more on Super Saturday.”
Hong Kong jockey Derek Leung will ride the 6-year-old gelding from post two on Thursday.
Credit: Dubai Racing Club