A field of 14 have accepted for the 1200 metre dash with half of them bred in Australia.
Outside of the Aussie visitors Chautauqua and Buffering there are several legitimate chances among the HK trained Aussie bred entries in Not Listenin'tome (Dylan Thomas(IRE), Lucky Bubbles (Sebring), Thewizardofoz (Redoute's Choice) and Strathmore (Fastnet Rock).
Chautauqua
Buffering
Chautauqua
Buffering
Thewizardofoz
Grant Courtney has been in HK this week
and captured the above images from trackwork and spoke to John Hawkes this
morning after Chautauqua went through his paces.
"He was really good. He wasn't out to do a lot this
morning, he had a good hit out Tuesday. He's lovely and relaxed a little bit
keen, but he's fine," Hawkes said.
Queried about the possibility of being too keen, Hawkes was unworried.
"No that's him, he's exactly the same, he always likes to get into his work," he said.
To compete on the international stage with a horse as good as Chautauqua is an honour Team Hawkes do not take lightly.
"It's good to win anywhere, but to come here, representing your country and with the boys we all work as a team it would be something special to go overseas and win a race of this calibre.
"It won't be easy, even old Buffering might be getting old but he's still winning G1's. Then the locals are always hard to beat on their own dunghill, so we're not taking anything for granted.
"We're treating it like any race, try and have him the best we can and you always need a little luck on the day. Just because you're the best rated horse doesn't mean you'll be winning."
"He was really good. He wasn't out to do a lot this
morning, he had a good hit out Tuesday. He's lovely and relaxed a little bit
keen, but he's fine," Hawkes said.Queried about the possibility of being too keen, Hawkes was unworried.
"No that's him, he's exactly the same, he always likes to get into his work," he said.
To compete on the international stage with a horse as good as Chautauqua is an honour Team Hawkes do not take lightly.
"It's good to win anywhere, but to come here, representing your country and with the boys we all work as a team it would be something special to go overseas and win a race of this calibre.
"It won't be easy, even old Buffering might be getting old but he's still winning G1's. Then the locals are always hard to beat on their own dunghill, so we're not taking anything for granted.
"We're treating it like any race, try and have him the best we can and you always need a little luck on the day. Just because you're the best rated horse doesn't mean you'll be winning."
