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John Hawkes has long been among the legendary figures in the training ranks in Australia - confirmed by his induction into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2004 - but he would dearly love to add an international Group 1 success to his resume.
And it matters not to him that technically he doesn’t have the opportunity to do that, this weekend, when his powerhouse sprinter Chautauqua will line up under his son Michael’s name as the possible favourite for the Group 1 2016 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin.
“That doesn’t matter, we’ve always been a team. The boys have been part of the operation ever since they were old enough to help,” said Hawkes senior in reference to his sons Michael and Wayne. In Australia they train as a registered partnership, which is not permitted in Hong Kong.
The patriarch of the family arrived in Hong Kong yesterday and was delighted with Chautauqua’s condition and his son’s handling of the horse when he inspected the distinctive grey son of Encosta De Lago this morning.
“He looks great,” Hawkes senior said, “he looks like he’s settled in great. The important thing is that we’re here and he’s in good order and gets to take his chance. We were very keen to come last December but he wrenched a joint and just wasn’t 100 per cent. The horse always comes first with us, they always have and we wouldn’t have taken a risk with him.
“It might have been a blessing in disguise because he had a good spell and he’s come back so well. I think his last win was the best of his career.”
That win was his exhilarating last to first success in the Group 1 T. J. Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on 2 April. He won the same race 12 months earlier, giving him a record of two wins from four right-handed starts at 1200m.
Hawkes believes the tempo of the race might be the key to Chautauqua’s Sunday prospects. “Obviously we want a good, genuine pace. The harder they go the better for him. The ground doesn’t matter, he’s fine wet or dry but we do want a good pace,” he said.
Hawkes, a 10 times national trainers’ premiership winner in Australia, says that Chautauqua has acceleration which is comparable to two of his past champions Lonhro and Octagonal, who both claimed Horse of the Year honours in his home country.
“He’s electrifying when he goes,” Hawkes said of Chautauqua, “he takes a little bit to wind up but once he does he can really go. Lonhro was probably quicker to top gear but I’d say Chautauqua is in the Lonhro category when it comes to sustained turn of foot. And while people might think that Octagonal couldn’t sprint, he could sprint for half a mile (800m). This horse is up with them.”
Even so, Hawkes is mindful of the task ahead. “He’s a back marker and back markers lose more races than they win. On speed runners win more than they lose. But he’s only run one bad race in his life and he’ll go in on Sunday in good shape and we’d love to see him do what he can,” he said.
But there’s unlikely to be any wild celebrations from the reserved trainer who delights in describing himself as a ‘battler’ even though he’s been at the top of his profession for almost 50 years. “You always watch a race through a trainer’s eye and winning is always more about a sense of relief than excitement,” he said.
Chautauqua is the Hawkes family’s fourth runner in Hong Kong. In John Hawkes’ name, Dao Dao was an unlucky third behind Sight Winner in the 2009 Champions Mile, beaten a head. Dao Dao also contested the 2010 Champions Mile but pulled up lame while the stable had Yell finish ninth to Silent Witness in the 2004 Hong Kong Sprint.
