Dubai: Having come agonisingly close to achieving a major international win at last month's Breeders' Cup, UAE racehorse owner Saeed Nasser Al Rumaithi is hoping to win not one but two races at next month's richly endowed Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International race meeting.
Al Rumaithi's Force Free was beaten by a neck by Amazombie in a spectacular Breeders' Cup Sprint (Group 1) but the Emirati businessman, who is a self-confessed racing enthusiast, is anticipating a change in fortunes when Rajsaman and Silver Pond compete at the Hong Kong extravaganza on December 8.
Rajsaman, who Al Rumaithi acquired at the Arquan Are de Triomphe sale last year, will run in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile (Group 1) while new recruit Silver Pond, takes his chance in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile (Group 1).
The genial Al Rumaithi was talking up the chances of his French-trained duo despite knowing they will need to be at their best to beat a strong international field in their races.
Belief in victory
"We are going there to win," he said at Meydan Racecourse. "You have to believe that your horses have a chance of winning when you compete at this level. Both my horses have really improved and I would like to believe that they both go to Hong Kong with a big chance of winning.
"Rajsaman is a very nice horse and he showed just how good he is when beating Rio De La Plata to win the Qatar Prix Daniel Waldenstein (Group 2) at the Arc meeting in Longchamp last month. He's come out of the race well and has been training well too. He did a very smart piece of work at Saint-Cloud last week and we couldn't be happier with his form heading to Hong Kong."
Both horses are trained by former champion jockey Freddy Head and will be ridden by four-time French flat racing champion Thierry Jarnet.
"I am in touch with Head regularly and it helps to know how the horses are doing," said Al Rumaithi, who has seven horses based in the UAE.
"Silver Pond is an exciting horse who has won four times, so we are very hopeful that he will run well. He was eighth on his last start behind Danedream in the Arc de Triomphe, and we expect him to improve from that run.
"He's had a break and has been training well. There is every reason to be optimistic as he's a horse with a lot of class. He's by Act One, who is a top stallion, and the Vase is of the same distance as the Arc, which is 2,400 metres, so we think there will be no problems."
The Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races have become recognised alongside Royal Ascot, the Arc meeting, the Breeders' Cup and the Dubai World Cup, some of the major race meetings of the world.
Massive prize money
One of the reasons is the massive prize money on offer with HK$68 million (Dh31.9 million) being divided between the four International Group One contests: the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup (2,000m, HK$20m), Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile (1,600m, HK$20m), Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase (2,400m, HK$14m) and Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m, HK$14m).
The event will be preceded by the Cathay Pacific International Jockeys' Championship on December 7.