If the noises coming out of the Able Friend camp are true – that his horse passport has been stamped “never to travel again” by owner Cornel Li Fook-kwan – that’s a terrible shame, because no one in their right mind is coming into his backyard expecting to beat him any time soon.
The “Beast from the East” set a new, terrifying career high on Sunday, jetting down the runway that is Sha Tin’s 430-metre straight carrying 133 pounds and looking like some computer-generated graphic from a B-grade action movie.
It was too unrealistic – a horse that big can’t pick up like that.
Jockey Club handicappers bumped Able Friend’s domestic rating up four points to 138, up from a mark of 134 that had held firm through five wins since his demolition job in last year’s Longines Hong Kong Mile.
A final 400m split of 22.15 seconds, nowhere near the monster miler’s top speed, shows there was more than a hint of optical illusion to the finishing burst.
A suicidal tempo helped the bad CGI effect in the Premier Bowl, sure, and a track running fast flattered, too. Able Friend actually went faster from the 800m to the 400m, clocking 21.89 seconds, as he tried to keep up with the ridiculous pace being set by the front runners.
Still, the old-fashioned eye test – plus some basic weights and measures – tells you that what John Moore’s horse did was exceptional. So did the way the contest made any racegoer’s heart nearly jump out of their chest.
Picking up five lengths over the last two furlongs with that weight, over a distance short of his best, and first-up too – after copping jibes of “Fatso Friend” from the parade ring regulars – was a special moment, especially coming after his Royal Ascot failure.
Yet as good as he was, if Able Friend never ventures overseas again, then whatever Li’s horse accomplishes on home soil won’t matter when it comes to comparing him with the greats.
Let’s say Able Friend stretches a winning streak throughout this season, or even beyond – there will still always be nattering in the background: “flat track bully”, “one-turn wonder” and “ahh yes, but he didn’t turn up on the big day”.
Dramatic wins like Sunday’s breathtaking last-to-first burst will only sharpen the focus on the one day he didn’t show up. Racing is cruel like that.
As flush with cash as Asia might be, rightly or wrongly, racing history remains Euro-centric and dominated by breeding, not betting, interests.
Able Friend sweated up worse than Patrick Ewing in a game seven play-off at Royal Ascot and clearly wasn’t himself. No excuses, though – Solow smashed them out of the park, then backed it up at Goodwood and on Champions Day.
READ MORE: Hong Kong's Able Friend fizzes out in attempt at Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot
Being a good traveller might be as important as being a good horse when it comes to targeting big overseas events, but Solow is both – an exceptional miler who won in grand style in Dubai.
His trainer, Freddy Head, still isn’t bringing his grey to Hong Kong for a rematch, though, as he still smarts over Moonlight Cloud jarring up in the 2013 Mile on the same tarmac Able Friend relishes.
Sadly, for neither love nor money – even lots and lots of money – the world’s very best don’t come to Sha Tin in December, nor Dubai in March.
Asia’s devoted racing fans wish they would, the Jockey Club certainly wishes they would, but HKIR is not considered “stallion-making” enough, although surely a simple race result couldn’t possibly have that type of biological effect on an animal’s anatomy.
If Aidan O’Brien is looking for firm ground for Gleneagles we have just the place, but the Sha Tin track is not only perceived as too hard, the timing is all wrong. Throw in Able Friend’s dominance, and Hong Kong’s improving standards overall, and that might be the biggest deterrent of all.
As harsh as this sounds, what Able Friend does is one dimensional – even if that one dimension happens to be in another dimension entirely.
READ ALL OF OUR ABLE FRIEND COVERAGE HERE
He has won only on tight-turning, right-handed bends, in races that are, by European standards, sit-and-sprint affairs where his best attribute – his blistering turn-of-foot – is best utilised.
If Able Friend never travels again, it will tarnish his legacy more than if he tries again and fails. But that is only because of where he is from.
Gleneagles can be scratched every time he looks out of his stable and sees a storm cloud and it doesn’t seem to matter.
Europe’s best don’t have to travel because the world’s best come to them. That’s how it works – tradition trumps turnover.
When we discuss Able Friend’s career in retrospect, whenever that is, it would be nice to think it won’t forever have that footnote of the one and only failure when he stepped hoof outside his comfort zone.
There’s a way to ensure that isn’t the case: Solow versus Able Friend in neutral territory, in the Group One Dubai Turf in March next year over 1,800m. There will even be proper prize money – not that anyone seems to care about the cash.
Sadly, it doesn’t look like happening, and if it doesn’t, that’s OK. Able Friend will always be known as Hong Kong’s champion, just not a world champion.
