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Flintshire is set to attempt a repeat victory in the HK$16.5 million LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) at Sha Tin on 13 December.
Owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah and trained in France by Andre Fabre, the five-year-old gained a comfortable half-length success over Willie Cazals in 2014.
The Dansili horse has enjoyed another excellent campaign this year. After finishing placed in G1 races in Dubai, the UK and France, he was successful in the G1 Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga, USA, on 29 August.
Last time out on 4 October, he contested Europe’s top middle distance race, the G1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, France, and for the second consecutive year filled the runner-up spot, going down by two lengths to Golden Horn.
Andre Fabre, who also won the Hong Kong Vase with Borgia in 1999, said: “Flintshire is in good form and is doing really well. I am very happy with him.
“He showed last year that he enjoys the course at Sha Tin and the plan is to go back and try to win a second Hong Kong Vase.
“I had considered running him in the Japan Cup this year but, given he had won in Hong Kong before, we thought it was the safest option to go back there with him.”
Chantilly-based Fabre is also set to be represented in the HK$23 million LONGINES Hong Kong Mile by Esoterique.
The five-year-old mare, owned by Baron Edouard de Rothschild, has been a model of consistency at the highest level in Europe this year, with G1 victories in the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard - Jacques le Marois at Deauville, France in August and the Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket, UK in October. Her most recent appearance came at Keeneland, USA, on 31 October when she finished a close seventh in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Fabre continued: “I put a lot of the blame for Esoterique’s run last time out on the racecourse – not on the design but on the racing surface, which did not suit her at all.
“She came out of her run in America very well though and has been training well. The plan is for her to go for the Hong Kong Mile.
“Both her and Flintshire have been very consistent throughout this year.”
The LONGINES Hong Kong Vase and LONGINES Hong Kong Mile are two of four G1 contests at the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin racecourse on Sunday, 13 December. The afternoon also features the HK$25 million LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) and the HK$18.5 million LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m).
