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Royal Julius will have a tough task at the Hong Kong International Meeting.
The Jerome Reynier trained Royal Julius will face a tough task against reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Exultant and G1 Grand Prix du Paris (2400m) winner Mogul in the in the HK$20 million LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) but may be overlooked as a place chance.
Despite a poor stakes record overall, Royal Julius has produced his best performances when globe trotting and made racing history when winning the inaugural Bahrain International Trophy (Sakhir, Bahrain) in November 2019. He has achieved placings in the G2 Premio Federico Tesio (2000m) at San Siro, Italy twice (2019/2020) and was a narrow runner-up in this year's renewal of the G2 Gran Premio di Milano (2000m) at the same track.
The seven-year-old has been predominately campaigned over 2000m in his career but the few attempts over a longer trip have reaped some rewards. Royal Julius demonstrated his love for travel again when placing second in the Amir Trophy (2400m) at Doha in 2019 and has more recently placed third in the G2 Grand Prix de Chantilly (2500m) at Deauville in May. His sire Royal Applause is more commonly known for delivering precocious sprinting two-year-olds but the dam Hflah (Dubawi) has produced three separate winners over middle-distance trips.
Trainer Jerome Reynier is realistic about his horse's chance, stating "We've had some fabulous days with him but he comes here off the back of two average performances. He didn't enjoy the heavy ground in the Arc and at Rome the race circumstances were somewhat unusual". Some may question the presence of Royal Julius in international Group One company after those efforts but Reynier does not. "That said, it's a small field with only two horses that stand out in Mogul and Exultant. Third place looks up for grabs so we have everything to gain and nothing to lose, safe in the knowledge he is in good form. On good ground going right-handed at between 2000 and 2400 metres, he is capable of putting up a very good performance if he is in the mood."