Addeybb heads British entries for Hong Kong International races

Molly Hunter
October 28, 2020 12:45 pm

Champion Stakes hero given Cup and Vase options at Sha Tin.

The Longines Hong Kong International meeting at Sha Tin on December 13 has attracted a host of high-calibre entrants from across the globe.

William Haggas’ Addeybb leads the British contingent in the Hong Kong Cup after a decisive victory in the Champion Stakes at Ascot, with French-trained runner-up Skalleti also put forward for the 10-furlong contest alongside Aidan O’Brien’s third-placed Magical.

John Gosden has nominated Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner Lord North for the race along with Mehdaayih, while James Fanshawe’s Audarya and Francis-Henri Graffard’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes champion The Revenant are also entered.

Seven-time Group One winner Almond Eye, trained by Sakae Kunieda, heads the entries for Japan, with last season’s champion Win Bright and the globally-campaigned Deirdre also flying the flag for the nation.

Anthony Van Dyck, the 2019 Derby hero, holds a place in the Hong Kong Vase for Ballydoyle, with this season’s German Derby hero and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up In Swoop also engaged.

Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year Exultant, who captured the race in 2018 and has won 11 times at Sha Tin, could try to reclaim his crown for the hosts having finished third last year.

Chris Waller has entered his Caulfield Cup winner Verry Elleegant, a six-times Group One champion, and Dermot Weld has nominated Prix Vermeille and Prix de l’Opera victor Tarnawa.

Addeybb, Lord North and Mehdaayih also have Vase options, along with Ed Dunlop’s Red Verdon.

Beat The Clock is due to defend his crown in the six-furlong Hong Kong Sprint, facing competition from Everest winner Classique Legend, who will be transferred to the base of Caspar Fownes in November to be trained for the race.

Britain could be represented by July Cup champion Oxted and British Champions Sprint winner Glen Shiel, with Charlie Hills’ Equilateral also holding an entry.

Four Wheel Drive, victorious in the Group Two Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, has also been engaged by trainer Wesley Ward while Make A Challenge is in the mix for Denis Hogan.

Haggas’ One Master, John Quinn’s Safe Voyage and O’Brien’s Circus Maximus are among the overseas contingent in the Mile where they could meet new Hong Kong superstar Golden Sixty.