The fallout from Able Friend’s lacklustre performance in the Queen Anne Stakes continues to shake Hong Kong racing to the core, and there is now a growing suggestion that the giant chestnut may be overlooked for the Horse of the Year award after his failed Royal Ascot campaign.
On Tuesday afternoon, this season’s Horse of the Year seemed a lay down misere – Able Friend was a typical “sure win”, the type of bet Hong Kong punters love. He would have been shorter odds than he had jumped at all season, and given he went off at 1.1 in the Chairman’s Trophy, that’s saying something.
It is almost absurd that one poor run could rob Big Red – or the Beast from the East, or whatever nickname you want to give him – of the title, but there is a strong push now for globetrotting sprinter Aerovelocity to claim the prize instead.
Trainer Paul O’Sullivan and jockey Zac Purton have both expressed their belief that Aerovelocity would be a deserving winner of the award as the first Hong Kong horse to ever win three Group One races in three different countries in a season.
Whether it is a fair assessment or not, Able Friend, for all his dominance at home, was unable to take his form abroad for whatever reason – whether it was the travel, the long season, the pre-race “panic attack” or a matter of not handling the stiff Ascot mile.
In essence, this is a question that goes to the heart of the philosophy of such an award. Is the Horse of the Year presented to the horse that has achieved the most in a given season? Or is it given to the better horse?
As one pundit described it on Wednesday night, it’s a chicken-egg scenario, an Escher artwork that goes on and on – except there’s a clear result at the end, even if the result is in the hands of only six people.
If it was given to the better horse, there is only one winner: Able Friend, despite his poor run on Tuesday, remains clearly the best horse that Hong Kong has ever produced. For all of Aerovelocity’s grit, determination, will to win and consistency, he is outshone by Able Friend, with the only real blight against John Moore’s galloper the fact he has not been able to take his form overseas.
So how does O’Sullivan’s sprinter stack up in the ratings?
In terms of Hong Kong figures, he is equal sixth on 125 with Singapore Airlines International Cup winner Dan Excel – Able Friend (134), Designs On Rome (132), Gold-Fun (130), Military Attack (129) and Blazing Speed (127) are all ahead of him – while in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings so far this year, Able Friend (125), Designs On Rome (123), Blazing Speed (121) and Gold-Fun (119) all rank higher. Aerovelocity sits on 118.
Therefore, he’s well short of the level required by that yardstick.
However, most people quizzed by The Griffin as to the meaning of the Horse of the Year award agree that it is about the horse that has achieved the most in a given season.
It is this which gives Aerovelocity his main claim. He is the only Hong Kong horse to ever win three Group One races in three different countries in a single season, with his victories in the Hong Kong Sprint, the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in Japan and the KrisFlyer Sprint in Singapore.
The only horse who has come close is Cape Of Good Hope, who won Group Ones in Australia and the UK in 2005-06 but could only manage placings at home behind a rampant Silent Witness.
But on the flip side, Aerovelocity was beaten in a Group One on home soil, losing the Chairman’s Sprint Prize to Gold-Fun narrowly. Able Friend did not lose at Group One level at home with his wins in the Hong Kong Mile, Stewards’ Cup, Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup and Champions Mile.
Another argument advanced by those in the Aerovelocity corner is that the one time they met Able Friend in a race this season – the Group Two Premier Bowl over 1,200m in October – Aerovelocity won, with Able Friend a very gallant fourth. Watch the replay here:
But that race has to be taken in context. Both were first-up, but while Aerovelocity raced near his peak weight – five pounds above the weight he was when he won the Hong Kong Sprint – and was primed fresh over a suitable trip, Able Friend looked like a rhinoceros in the yard pre-race. That day, he tipped the scales at 1,315 pounds, 18 pounds above his weight when he won the Hong Kong Mile and a whopping 52 pounds more than his “peak” racing weight when he won the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup. Able Friend also had a setback leading into the run which forced him to miss his planned reappearance in early October.
That race also saw Aerovelocity in receipt of 11 pounds from Able Friend, and he saluted thanks to a stellar Purton ride whereas Able Friend probably hit the front too soon under Nash Rawiller and ran out of condition in the final 100m.
Really, it is a moot argument to suggest that because Aerovelocity beat home Able Friend that day, he should win Horse of the Year. One swallow doth not a summer make.
So how does it work? The Horse of the Year is chosen by a judging panel consisting of three members from the Hong Kong Jockey Club – chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, executive director of racing Bill Nader and chief handicapper Nigel Gray – and three members from the Association of Hong Kong Racing Journalists. The English-speaking media, very much in the minority in Hong Kong, is not represented.
There has been scandal before. The fourth wife of casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun, Angela Leong On-kei, unleashed a tirade after Ho’s Viva Pataca was denied the award in 2006-07 with his arch rival Vengeance Of Rain the winner instead.
Vengeance Of Rain had won the Sheema Classic and the Hong Kong Gold Cup, but had returned from Dubai and was thrashed by Viva Pataca in the QE II Cup and the Champions & Chater Cup.
While it was never confirmed, it was reported at the time the panel had split 5-1 in favour of Vengeance Of Rain, which saw an angry outburst from Leong at the awards ceremony. She was satisfied two years later when Viva Pataca finally won the award.
This year’s decision will come down to the importance placed in Aerovelocity’s achievement. It is a remarkable effort, but does it eclipse the facile wins of Able Friend time after time after time?
The Griffin is firmly in the Able Friend camp. On July 10, we find out if those that matter are on the same page.
