The aptly-named Glory Vase will be attempting to win an unprecedented third Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Having triumphed in a race record time in 2019, he missed the 2020 running before regaining the crown twelve months ago.
He was trained by Tomohito Ozeki and ridden by Joao Moreira for those victories and the same partnership remains intact. They face a tough challenge as Glory Vase, now aged seven, attempts to be the joint-second oldest winner of this race, first run in 1994.
Eighth in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan and sixth in the Sapporo Kinen in August, he will need a rapid improvement in form if he is to make history, but at 2.62 with William Hill he is the favourite.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: December 8th, 1:30 P.M. (GMT)
Nine challengers are readying themselves for the 1 mile 4 furlong turf contest, part of the Hong Kong International Races meeting, the closest of whom in the market is Win Marilyn at 4.50.
Also trained in Japan, by Takahisa Tezuka, this will be the 5-year-old mare’s first run on foreign shores.
Australian jockey Damian Lane rode Win Marilyn for the first time a month ago, securing second in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Hanshin, her best performance to date at that level.
British jockey Ryan Moore and Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien have won this race together three times, most recently with Mogul in 2020, and their best chance of a fourth title comes with Stone Age, also at 4.50.
Raced eight times in 2022, Stone Age has won twice, though they were in the only non-Grade 1 outings. He was sixth in the Epsom Derby, but second last time in the Breeders’ Cup Turf suggests that a big win for the 3-year-old is in sight.
After the three favourites comes 10.00 chance Senor Toba who must know every blade of grass at Sha Tin as his last ten races have been there. He won a Grade 3 in May shortly before a third in his only Grade 1, the Champions & Chater Cup, finishing ahead of Panfield and Butterfield who at 26.00 and 51.00 respectively are outsiders for the Vase.
15.00 chance Broome won the Hardwicke Stakes at Ascot in June but has finished no better than fourth in his five runs since. William Buick will ride Godolphin’s Botanik (17.00) for the first time who comes into this after a poor showing at Longchamp.
Bubble Gift and Mendocino (both 21.00) both ran in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Mendocino managing 12th while Bubble Gift was 17th.
