Fears of a firm track look likely to dissuade French trainer Freddy Head from bringing Queen Anne Stakes winner Solow for a rematch with Able Friend in December’s Longines Hong Kong Mile.
The real Able Friend failed to show up in Tuesday’s Royal Ascot opener – which had been billed as something of a one-on-one clash with Solow – but the signs are that a return bout isn’t happening any time soon.
“He is a special horse, but the concern would be the going. He would like a bit of give in the ground and Sha Tin is pretty firm. So I don’t know, we’ll see,” Head said, pointing to his experience with champion mare Moonlight Cloud, who failed as second favourite in the 2013 Hong Kong Mile.
“I would like to come with Solow, but I have a bad souvenir from Sha Tin when I came with Moonlight Cloud. I thought she was a sure thing that day.”
Able Friend’s trainer, John Moore, had to work overtime to convince the horse’s owner, Cornel Li Fook-kwan, to travel abroad this season and admitted it would now be more difficult.
“This result would have hurt Cornel and dampened his spirits with future ventures offshore,” Moore said.
Moore said Able Friend had pulled up sound the morning after being beaten nearly nine lengths and failing to show any spark on Tuesday.
“We had the vets go over him and check everything,” Moore said. “He is fine so that is good news. It was just a flat performance.
“We will give him a little break here and come back and start again. He will resume in October and head to the Hong Kong Mile.”
Solow will next start in the Group One Sussex Stakes on July 29, but Head said a Breeders’ Cup start at Keeneland, Kentucky, later in the year was unlikely.
“Solow is a gelding so he can run for a few more years, but we want him to last and we will choose his races carefully,” he said.
“I’m not sure the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland will suit him, as he is a long-striding horse. I think he might stay a mile and a quarter, but if he can carry on winning these big races over a mile, we won’t need to worry about that.”
