Dream Line-Up Announced For Audemars Piguet QEII Cup The world?s leading middle-distance horses are poised to ship to Sha Tin for a showdown with Hong Kong?s finest in the HK$14 million Audemars Piguet QEII Cup (Gr.1-2000m) on April 24. A total of seven individual Gr.1 winners feature in a cracking line-up of horses trained in four continents for what promises to be an epic encounter, sponsored for the eighth year by famed Swiss watchmakers Audemars Piguet. 'We are especially pleased to have the winners of three international races in Hong Kong doing battle for this very prestigious race and while local horses will attempt a third consecutive win, they will have to produce career best performances given the strength of the overseas opposition,' said Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Racing. 'I would also like to extend the Hong Kong Jockey Club?s warm appreciation and gratitude to our partners, Audemars Piguet, because they have been terrific supporters of our sport over the years.' The clash between international superstar Ouija Board and Viva Pataca, the most exciting horse to have emerged in Hong Kong this season, is perhaps the most intriguing subplot in a fascinating race. Ouija Board simply oozed class when she won the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase last December by almost three lengths and the dual Classic heroine, Breeders? Cup winner and European Horse of the Year in 2004 continues on an international campaign having run fourth in the Dubai Sheema Classic last month. One of the principal obstacles in Ouija Board?s path as she bids for a fifth Gr.1 title will be Viva Pataca, this season?s easy Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby victor. Viva Pataca was considered a Gr.1 winner in waiting when he raced in England as Comic Strip and trainer John Moore feels the four-year-old has the potential to become a genuine international champion. Three of the world’s leading mares will take part in this year’s Audemars Piguet QEII Cup. Ouija Board will be joined by Alexander Goldrun, the world’s joint top ranked mare in the 2005 World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings, and the top class Irridescence, a Gr.1 winner in South Africa. It is encouraging to note that the world’s best females are no longer confined to filly/mares events in their own backyard and are prepared to span the globe in search of racing?s richest prizes. Ireland’s Alexander Goldrun is another seeking a fifth Gr.1 and drops back to her optimum distance of ten furlongs having failed to last home over 2400m in the Sheema Classic last time. She will renew hostilities with HK’s Champion Miler Bullish Luck, who succumbed to a short-head defeat the when the pair met in the 2004 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup. Possessing a lethal finishing kick, Bullish Luck secured international fame as the first horse to defeat Silent Witness in Champion?s Mile last term and most recently raced with distinction from off the pace when fifth in the Dubai Duty Free. The powerful South African stable of Mike de Kock is itching to register a first success in Hong Kong and came close in this race last year when Greys Inn beat all bar Vengeance Of Rain. This year De Kock is sending Sheema Classic third Falstaff (finished ahead of Ouija Board and Alexander Goldrun) as well as the exciting Irridescence, a late scratching from the Dubai Duty Free on March 25. Irridescence comfortably won her Listed prep race in Dubai and has recovered well from a setback in the Nad Al Sheba paddock. Norse Dancer has placed six times from 1600m to 2400m in Europe, the highlight of which was a fine second to Azamour in both last year’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes and the 2004 Irish Champion Stakes. Laverock has been selected to represent France and this dual Gr3 winner has an intriguing form line that merits close attention. He finished half a length behind 2005 World Champion and subsequent Prix de l?Arc de Triomphe victor Hurricane Run in last year?s French Derby, only to be relegated from third to sixth in the inquiry room. The international challenge is completed by Vanquished, winner of the Prime Ministers Cup (Gr 2) in Australia. Yet to break through at the highest level to date, Vanquished rounds off his preparation this Saturday in the Gr.1 BMW Stakes in Sydney before jetting out to Hong Kong next Tuesday. John Moore has won four Gr.1 races in Hong Kong this campaign and is hell-bent on adding to the tally with half of the seven local contenders hailing from his barn. Moore also races the in-form Super Kid, recently successful in the Hong Kong Gold Cup (Gr.1), and Best Gift, third to Ouija Board in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase and a short head second in the Stewards? Cup (Gr.1) in January. It was Russian Pearl who emerged triumphant from Best Gift in the latter race and this former Gr.1 kingpin in New Zealand also ran an excellent third in this very race 12 months ago. Bowman?s Crossing and Green Treasure complete the Hong Kong-based challengers. The former has returned to the form that saw him run second in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile in 2003. He figured in a photo finish when third in the Hong Kong Gold Cup in February and was unlucky not to lift the Chairman?s Trophy (Gr.2-1600m) most recently. Green Treasure meanwhile was the most improved horse in Hong Kong last season and has maintained the progression in the current campaign. He ran second from top weight in the HSBC Premier Plate in his most recent test.
