Whyte to again test the European-breds’ Classic credentials after Emperor’s Gold display
Douglas Whyte has put his faith in the European breed as a superior product when it comes to races over a mile plus in Hong Kong, but only when given the time and patience to flourish in what is a harsher, more alien racing arena to the open pastures they are accustomed to.
That judgement reaped rewards for the champion jockey-turned-trainer, when his Russian Emperor (Galileo) led home a stable one-two in Sunday’s Hong Kong Gold Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) to deliver the biggest win of Whyte’s second career, one that followed quickly on from a first Group 1 success with Stronger (Not A Single Doubt) in the Centenary Sprint Cup (Gr 1, 1200m) last month.
Whyte saddled the only two European-bred horses in the weekend’s ten-runner Group 1 event at Sha Tin, with Russian Emperor proving to be a dominant force, finishing four and a quarter lengths ahead of Savvy Nine (Anodin), as the pair dealt another blow to champion racehorse Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro), who toiled in the softening conditions to finish five and a half lengths adrift of the worthy winner in third.
“I think the European horses tend to excel once they get over a mile,” Whyte told Asia Bloodstock News.
“I do think that the conditions helped, but I’m not going to put it all down to that, because he’s a well-furnished horse now having had a full season of racing in Hong Kong – strengthening and hardening up – and also developing. He’s handling the pressure of the tracks, the speed and of the training.
“In Europe they can jump slow, come from last and do whatever they want. Here, there’s continuous pressure from the time the gates open to the time they go past the post.”
The win for the son of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) – who is out of the Australian-bred superstar Atlantic Jewel (Fastnet Rock) – continued a recent trend of dominance for the European-bred horse in the Hong Kong Gold Cup, with Russian Emperor following in the path of dual scorers Time Warp (Archipenko), Designs On Rome (Holy Roman Emperor) and Military Attack (Oratorio), as well as 2019 victor Exultant (Teofilo), as winners of the 2000-metre feature in the last ten years.
Indeed, it is a pattern that is replicated wider in the Hong Kong racing landscape, with other Group 1 features run over 2000 metres and beyond in recent years similarly dominated by European, or Japanese, bloodlines.
The New Zealand-bred Werther (Tavistock) is the only southern hemisphere-reared horse to have won the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) in the last decade, with Europe claiming five and Japan four, while it is a similar story for the Champions & Chater Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) over a mile and a half, with Werther’s 2017 success in the race the only blot in what has otherwise been a clean sweep for the Europeans.
“I love the European horses,” Whyte continued. “I did a lot of work for John Moore when I was a jockey and when I retired. He set the standard for bringing in these European horses. He was the master of it and he gave them ample time and he gave them a real grounding preparation before he ran them, and when he ran them I don’t think there were many that won first time. They were good and stood up, and went on to win, but it’s very difficult to prepare a European horse first time out and train on for the rest of the season.
“They’re not cheap, either. To find the owners now with that money, they’re not readily available, and it’s difficult to find a very good horse. And if I’m saying to you (as an owner) that, in the interim, you’ve got to be racing for a year before really finding your straps and results, it becomes financially quite demanding. Hong Kong is an expensive place full stop.”
However, an anomaly in this observation of European dominance is the Hong Kong Derby (Listed, 2000m), and the Four-Year-Old Classic Series more generally, with its lucrative grand finale having not been won by a horse emanating from Europe since 2014 winner Designs On Rome, who followed the Irish-bred and the last entire to win the Derby in Akeed Mofeed (Dubawi).
While Whyte believed that time and patience played a hand in explaining this trend, he also saw the European-bred as being at a significant relative disadvantage to its Australasian counterparts in terms of age and maturity, and the timing of the series on the Hong Kong calendar, with European owners keen to target the big three-year-old races on the European season before entertaining any decision to sell overseas.
“My opinion is that the Australian horses, they turn four in August and the European horses, they turn four in January, so there’s a significant pull from that perspective and, believe me, although it’s only five months, that five months when you’re looking at a horse that is just beginning to furnish and come into his own, it’s a significant difference,” Whyte said.
“I’m not suggesting it should be run later, but if the Derby was run in June time, it’s going to give the European horses a much greater chance of being more competitive. Most of the European horses, especially the ones that are heading for the Derby, if they get here by September/October, they’re lucky. Some of them only get here in November and you’ve got to try and get them to a Derby. Your foot’s on the peddle from the word go, and they’re trying to adjust to conditions that they’re totally not used to.
“If you could get Derby horses here in March, April a year before, and give them a long introduction and get them prepared for the following year, that would be the way to go. But you can’t find those horses at that stage because they want to run them at Royal Ascot as three-year-olds and all these other races. Timing is a bad thing for the European horses when we’re talking about a Derby.”
Whyte, who saddled Russian Emperor to finish second both in last year’s Hong Kong Classic Cup (Listed, 1800m) and Derby, has again put his belief in the European product to the test in this year’s Classic Series, and will line up Turin Redsun (Dubawi) in this year’s renewal of the Classic Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday.
The son of Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) finished fourth in the Hong Kong Classic Mile (Listed, 1600m), the first leg of the series, on January 30, making a late burst for the line from the rear of the field to finish just four lengths adrift of Romantic Warrior (Acclamation) as an outside $86 chance, in what was just his third run in Hong Kong.
The four-year-old was a juvenile winner in the UK for John Gosden and ran sixth – beaten just a length – in the competitive Britannia Stakes (1m) at Royal Ascot at three, before being gelded and exported to his new home.
“He’s had a beautiful preparation. He was fortunately one that got here slightly earlier. He’s a typical Dubawi, they’re tough as nails, he has a bit of a temperament, in a good way,” Whyte said of his contender.
“It’s a very similar preparation to Russian Emperor but a completely different individual. You can get a bit more work and speed into this horse, whereas Russian Emperor was wrapped in cotton wool from the start.”
Turin Redsun could take on 13 rivals in the 1800-metre contest on Sunday, with a notable European flavour to the field, with the British-bred four-year-old joined by the Irish-bred Hong Kong Classic Mile winner Romantic Warrior, as well as the Tony Cruz-trained California Spangle (Starspangledbanner), Footstepsinthesand (Giant’s Causeway) gelding Gorytus, and the twice-raced Mr Ascendancy from the first crop of The Gurkha (Galileo).
“He’d be a chance (on Sunday), for sure,” Whyte said. “When he ran second I was delighted, because I knew he was nowhere near where I wanted him. His run the other day when he broke from gate 13 and went back to second last and then got held up, I thought he attacked the line in good fashion, his sectionals were very good.
“He trialled well and I sat on him this morning (Tuesday) for his final turf gallop and he’s in good order. I think he’s going into the race fit and well and whatever he does, I know there’s still improvement to come in the Derby.”