In the week Andre Fabre celebrated his 80th birthday, he became the first trainer to win the Hong Kong Vase result four times as Sosie surged to victory under a confident Maxime Guyon. The Sea The Stars colt held off defending champion Giavellotto to claim the HK$26 million Group 1 prize over 2400 metres.
Defending champion Giavellotto pursued Sosie all the way to the line but ultimately could not reverse the placings from October’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, where the pair finished third and fourth.
Elisabeth Fabre, a long-time integral part of her husband’s training operation, reflected on the victory: “Everything went perfectly. The race unfolded perfectly, he had a great trip and Maxime knows his horse very well, while Sosie had trust in him when he asked him for his effort. He is a very good horse with a wonderful mind and a lot of natural energy. He is magnificent to look at and he will stay in training next year.”
Alert from stall eight, Guyon positioned Sosie just off the rail and two lengths back from the early leader Eydon. Urban Chic passed Eydon halfway down the back straight as Christophe Lemaire tried to inject some urgency. Turning for home, Guyon guided Sosie safely outside the fading Urban Chic, while Christophe Soumillon took a daring route up the rail aboard Goliath, staying on well for third.
“Everything went very smoothly,” Guyon said, adding to his LONGINES Hong Kong Vase wins aboard Flintshire (2014) and Junko (2023). “I followed Los Angeles for three-quarters of the race, but halfway round the home turn, Ryan’s horse began to falter. This horse can really sustain his run, and he is such a hard horse to pass. The horse has such a great temperament and he is so easy to put anywhere in a race.”
Sosie’s victory capped a fine season that also included G1 Prix Ganay (2100m) and G1 Prix d’Ispahan (1850m) wins. “It’s his fourth career Group 1 and he was in such great shape. We know he is capable of winning big races like this, and this year he has won at the top level over 1850 metres, 2100 metres and now 2400 metres,” Guyon said.
Marco Botti praised Giavellotto’s performance. “As we thought beforehand, it wasn’t going to be a strong pace. Andrea said he thought the winner had first run, but he got to his girth for second and I thought it was a good effort. The winner is a proper horse, and they’re two good horses.”
Already a winner of the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden this season, Goliath arguably produced his best run of 2025 in finishing third, a length and a quarter behind. Al Riffa and Los Angeles completed the top five.
The plaudits, however, belonged to the ageless Fabre. Sosie joins Borgia (1999), Flintshire and Junko on the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase roll of honour, giving the Chantilly trainer one more victory than Aidan O’Brien in the event’s history.
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