Sha Tin will host the HK$26 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) this Sunday (14 December), and the race promises to be a fascinating contest given how closely the top contenders are rated.
Los Angeles officially holds a three-pound advantage at 123, yet his recent performances suggest he may face stiff competition from a quartet of 120-rated rivals, including Sosie and Giavellotto, who finished third and fourth in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Urban Chic, winner of the 2024 G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger, 3000m), sits three pounds further back. He finished fifth behind Masquerade Ball in the G1 Tenno Sho Autumn (2000m), ridden on that occasion by Alexei Pouchin, while Christophe Lemaire was aboard the winner. Now reunited with Lemaire, Urban Chic appears to be showing signs of returning to peak condition.
“He’s a Classic winner in Japan having won the Japanese St Leger over 3000 metres, but I think his best trip is 2400 or 2500 metres,” Lemaire said. “During the spring, he was not at his best, but it looks like he’s coming back to top condition after running brilliantly to be fifth in the Tenno Sho. The Tenno Sho form is very good and while the horse will need to be at his best to win, he’s got plenty of potential and I’m quite confident.”
Trainer Ryo Takei, saddling his first Sha Tin runner in the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, has also been encouraged by the colt’s preparation. “He put in a great finishing effort in the Tenno Sho. I also think Sha Tin will suit him,” Takei said. Carrying the Silk Racing colours, Urban Chic has impressed in the build-up to his first overseas assignment.
“If you compare his condition when he did his final piece of fast work two weeks out from the Tenno Sho and two weeks before this race, I think he is in much better shape,” Takei added. “He wasn’t at his absolute best for the Tenno Sho because it was his first run back off a layoff after the Takarazuka Kinen, but he is 100 per cent ready ahead of this race.”
Urban Chic has also demonstrated progress in temperament and mental development, which was a concern earlier in his career. “As a two-year-old he had a very difficult temperament, and even now he can’t train alone. The owners were keen to go overseas in the spring, but I wasn’t confident he had the temperament to handle a foreign trip at the time. Now, I am very happy that he can cope with the big races abroad.”
Form lines suggest the race will be highly competitive. Sosie and Giavellotto should be better suited by a fast Sha Tin track compared with the rain-softened conditions at Longchamp. Urban Chic has a three-nil career record against Byzantine Dream, who finished less than a length and a neck behind Sosie and Giavellotto in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
“It is likely Urban Chic will need to run a career-best to win the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, but both Lemaire and I appear quietly confident that he is ready to deliver just such a performance,” Takei said.
Sunday’s 10-race fixture at Sha Tin starts at 12:25pm with the Class 4 Fairy King Prawn Handicap (1400m).
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