Our star runner Able Friend was one of the two world-class horses given the top rating of 125 in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings announced by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities last month. Perhaps some of you will have noticed that the other horse, Shared Belief, ran in a G2 in the US a fortnight ago.
It was a huge drama, however, as the four-year-old was eased down by his jockey midway through the contest. After the race he was diagnosed to have sustained a hip fracture, which could rule him out for the rest of 2015. I’ve watched his earlier run in the G1 Santa Anita Handicap in March and it was really an authoritative win and a cracking performance. My best wishes to this outstanding horse to recover soon and return to his best in the future.
Able Friend will be making his first run since assumingthe world’s number one spot last month, when he goes to post for the G1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin tomorrow. Despite some people raising doubts about his winning style last time, saying that it was not as impressive as compared with his previous runs, the horse’s final gallop on Thursday was very pleasing. I know that has given his trainer John Moore and jockey Joao Moreira plenty of confidence for the race tomorrow.
And as trainer John Size told the media in midweek, although it is a small field of six, it is still an interesting event and should be a great contest. The highlight of the race will definitely be the first encounter between Able Friend and BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Luger, which is, in my opinion, a clash between the currently best horse in the World and the best 4-year-old in Hong Kong who tries to get international recognition in challenging the World Champion.
Running three-wide all the way in a high-tempo race, it was an impressive win for Luger in the Derby last time. John Size has given his horse seven weeks to freshen up. But he will be facing a similar situation as Able Friend did 12 months ago – coming off his Derby campaign to face older and stronger opposition in this all-age top level contest.
It is interesting to note that there has been only one timewhen the Derby winner went on to contest the Champions Mile in the same year. That was the Moore-trained Collection who finished 5th in 2009, coincidentally, behind Size-trained Sight Winner. Comparatively, I believe Luger will be the fresher horse in the race and the mile is much more his distance than it was for Collection. But he will be facing the best horse in the world here, so it’s not going to be easy.
It’s hard to tell which of these two top-class horses will emerge as the winner in this race tomorrow. Strictly on ratings, if Able Friend is at his best he should win, but then I believe we have not seen the very best of Lugeryet, so all in all it will be very exciting. I’m sure all of us in Sha Tin’s grandstands tomorrow will be very likely to watch a thrilling duel between the two stars down the final furlong.
With only six runners in the field, the pace of the race is expected to be slow with Secret Sham appears to be the only leader who should be able to get across in front easily. Real Specialist can make use of his inside draw to push closer than usual and should take the box seat on the inside of Dan Excel or Luger. Able Friend will likely come from the back with Rewarding Hero.
Able Friend is working very well and has run the 400m repeatedly in 21.71 seconds with his best last sectional times is a stunning 21.41 seconds which none of the other runners can match on past form. Luger is a horse with plenty of potential and is working very well. What he did in the BMW Hong Kong Derby with an interrupted preparation was remarkable, but it will be difficult to beat Able Friend. Luger should be able to beat Dan Excel who is coming back to form and is working well too.
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