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On Sunday, Highfield Princess will be attempting to do what no other British (or European) horse has been able to achieve – winning the Longines Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint.
From a fairly small number of horses travelling from this region to attempt to snatch victory from the locals, Japanese and Australians, this year, everything may change when the multiple G1 winning six-year-old mare fronts up to take on the 'eastern' challengers.
And she may just be able to create history.
From thirty-eight starts, Highfield Princess has won fourteen races and placed a further fourteen times. Over this six-furlong trip, she has won once from five and placed twice. She is the winner of four Group 1 races but surprisingly is yet to win over this trip. Three of her Group 1 successes were over five furlongs and the other over six and half furlongs at Deauville in 2022.
The daughter of Night Of Thunder landed the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp last-time-out but then bypassed a run in the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Turf, favouring and opting to race at Sha Tin.
Hong Kong horses have dominated success in the race with only six visitors winning since the race was inaugurated in 1999. Good British and European horses including Borderlescott, Sole Power and Bated Breath have thrown their hat into the Hong Kong feature sprint race but were unable to succeed. The last horse from 'the west' to run in the race was British runner Sir Dancealot in 2018.
But Highfield Princess is different. Trainer John Quinn explained the reasoning for missing the Breeders' Cup race:
"It was a difficult decision, but we purposely skipped it in the hope we could give her the best chance to get to Hong Kong in top form.
"She had a hard race last time, (in the Prix de l'Abbaye) but she had a very easy week afterwards and she's a big mare, so she doesn't need too much time to recover between races.
"We were always thinking this year was going to be a lighter campaign. Her first run was in May, and she turned up at every big gig all year and ran brilliantly."
That 'lighter campaign' resulted in seven races from the end of May until the first week of October! Her only unplaced run was at The Curragh when finishing fifth in the G1 Flying Five Stakes where there were excuses having missed the start before she appeared to lose her footing.
2022 saw Highfield Princess victorious in three consecutive Group 1 races across three different countries – France, England, and Ireland before finishing fourth in the United States at Keeneland in the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint (1100m).
By avoiding the Breeders Cup this year, Quinn believes both the break since her last race and the Sha Tin surface will pay to Highfield Princess' known capabilities:
"If you look in the form book, you'll have to say her best form is on fast ground.
"She ran two wonderful races at Royal Ascot four days apart on quick going (this year), and the ground when she won the Prix Maurice de Gheest (in 2022) was much quicker than the official description.
"I've been looking at racing from Sha Tin and it looks a beautifully manicured track."
For trainer Quinn and jockey Jason Hart, this will both be their first visit to the Longines Hong Kong International meeting. Highfield Princess has the ability to sit just behind the leaders and possess a strong finishing stride:
"During the race, we'll let her go forward and find her feet…She's shown she doesn't have to make the running, she's very amenable and she can be ridden anywhere. That's a great thing in a racehorse because if you're one-dimensional the opposition knows how to beat you."
Quinn acknowledges the race with not be easy to win, given the strength of the domestic contingent:
"I saw Lucky Sweynesse win the Jockey Club Sprint and despite being tardy away he won nicely enough. There might be more to come from him. Wellington ran well and so did Victor The Winner.
"They're very good horses but she's an unbelievable mare. Everything's got to go right but I'm not afraid and she's not out of place. Horses like her don't come along very often and she's been phenomenal."
There has never been a better chance for British and European horses to gain a 'maiden victory' in this race and Highfield Princess could be just the one to have her named etched into the history books.