Andre Fabre upbeat over Marquisat’s LONGINES Hong Kong Vase prospects

Andre Fabre struck with his very first International Races runner in Hong Kong when Borgia and Olivier Peslier scraped the paint on their way to success in the 1999 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m), and it is the longest of the four Group 1s on the card which has remained the French training maestro’s touchstone at Sha Tin.

Maxime Guyon was aboard for both Flintshire’s win in 2014 and again 12 months ago when Junko claimed the prize, while Fabre’s overall record in the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase is three wins, four seconds and a third from 13 starters.

In total, France has claimed the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase 11 times, compared to seven wins for horses trained in Great Britain, five for Japan and three for the hosts.

Step forward Marquisat, Godolphin’s lightly raced four-year-old son of Zarak, who will bid to retain the prize won by Junko and in the process give newly crowned LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship champion Mickael Barzalona a first Group 1 win at the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin on Sunday (8 December).

The similarities with Junko - at least in terms of the formbook - are hard to ignore, with Fabre having even used the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern (2400m) as his warm-up run before heading to Sha Tin.

But whereas Junko won impressively at Munich before conquering Hong Kong, Marquisat’s chances this year were compromised, both by a sodden track and receiving a couple of hefty bumps.

After watching Marquisat canter on Friday (6 December), Fabre said: “Obviously his rating doesn’t give him a leading chance and his preparation was not the ideal; the German race was not really what I was hoping for.

“The ground was too heavy. He enjoys soft ground but not that heavy; he’s not a strong horse, he has a light action.”

That performance came after a promising comeback run when Marquisat chased home Goliath and Hamish in the G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris (2200m), his first start since coming within a nose of beating Junko in the G2 Grand Prix de Chantilly (2400m) on the undercard to the G1 Prix du Jockey Club (2100m, French Derby) at the beginning of June.

The form of the Chantilly race took on much greater significance within the space of the next six weeks or so, as third-placed Dubai Honour landed the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (2400m) and then the fourth home, Goliath, spreadeagled the field in Britain’s high-summer highlight, G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m).

“He looks well now and on his form with Junko he has a very good chance,” said Fabre. “On his rating he has the fifth-best chance.

“The Grand Prix de Chantilly form is cause for optimism but he will need to repeat that and he had an interruption afterwards.”

Fabre’s record in the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase should be warning enough not to underestimate Marquisat's chances, while the man who will be crowned his country’s champion trainer for a barely-believable 32nd time at the end of the year has developed an unerring knack for working out which horses are better suited to intercontinental travel and adapting to different styles of racing.

“We always learn by travelling and meeting other horses and, hopefully, getting a stronger pace,” said Fabre. "He’s a horse who is a very easy-going type so he should adapt.

“Over a mile and a half the draw (12 of 13) won’t matter, as long as there is some pace, which there should be.”

In summary, one of the finest thoroughbred conditioners of the last half century has brought an unexposed and improving horse to a wide-open LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, where he will be ridden by a jockey riding a wave of confidence as high as at any time in his career.

By Fabre’s own admission, the preparation pre-departure was compromised, but the overall profile of Marquisat means he might soon become a fixture on the international circuit at this 2400m trip, and it would be no shock if he put in a big performance on Sunday.