Sport | Horse Racing
Eagle expected to fly high in Hong Kong
Eagle Mountain can hit the heights today by lifting the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup to give the UAE a second successive victory in the showpiece event.
- By Naveed Raja, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 23:45 December 13, 2008
Hong Kong: Eagle Mountain can hit the heights today by lifting the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup to give the UAE a second successive victory in the showpiece event.
Mike de Kock's inmate has been on an upward curve since the South African took over the preparation of the four-year-old and nursed him back from a pelvis fracture late last year.
Since getting back on the track Eagle Mountain won the Group 3 Nayef Joel Stakes at Newmarket before coming an impressive second in the Breeders' Cup Turf to Conduit at Santa Anita seven weeks ago.
De Kock and jockey Kevin Shea are brimming with confidence in a race that has been in mind for the Shaikh Mohammad Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum owned animal since his comeback.
Eagle Mountain is the 5/2 second favourite with British bookmakers and the big obvious danger is Hong Kong hero Viva Pataca.
It's the ultra-consistent Viva Pataca's third crack at the race after coming fourth in 2006 and second to Goldolphin's Ramonti last year.
Trainer John Moore says he's never had the gelding, who came second in the Dubai Sheema Classic in March, in better form.
After Jim Bolger's stellar year Lush Lashes can't be excluded from the reckoning taking into account her seven pound weight allowance from the principles and, for those looking for an outsider to make the frame, the quirky Loup Breton is an interesting runner.
In the three other Group One encounters the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile looks a particularly hot race, and a case can be made for any number of contenders, but local horse Egyptian Ra is taken to succeed.
The 12/1 shot won last month's trial in the second fastest time ever clocked at Sha Tin over the distance and the front runner's recent for indicates an improving beast who, despite the wide draw in stall 13, can make all to land the spoils.
Good Ba Ba and Breeders' Cup Mile second Kip Deville have been vying for favouritism but both can be opposed, the former as he seems to be a horse in decline from last season's wonderful form and the latter because of doubts about how he will handle going right-handed for the first time.
The Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase is another tough conundrum to solve with reigning champion Doctor Dino the one to beat.
It would be no surprise to see Richard Gibson's globe-trotting star retain his crown although if Ralph Beckett's Breeders' Cup Marathon star Muhannak can transfer his form on the all-weather to the turf he is an obvious clear and present danger. Of the outsiders Mourilyan could be capable of shaking things up.
The Sprint has been a benefit for local horses in recent years, with Hong Kong triumphing in the last six renewals, but that run is likely to come to an end as Europe's champion speedball Marchand D'or and Australian pace ace Apache Cat go head to head.
Apache Cat won five Group Ones on the spin last season and can triumph in his first international event ahead of a possible tilt at the Dubai Golden Shaheen in March.
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