Much-travelled trainer Fawzi Nass carries the hopes of the Royal Family of Bahrain as he prepares to launch his first runner in Hong Kong on the much-anticipated FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin on Sunday (27 April).

Nass, 54, currently second in the Bahrain trainer’s championship, will saddle German-bred Calif in the HK$28 million G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) in which he faces Ascot’s G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m) winner Goliath and a strong Japanese contingent.

Calif carries the red and white colours of Victorious, a stable created by Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, son of the King of Bahrain and son-in-law of Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Dubai.

Also known as Prince Nasser, he is third in line to the throne and Commander of Bahrain’s Royal Guard. He has more than 100 horses in training with five trainers in England and a stable in Bahrain.

He is also a leading figure in Endurance Racing, last year winning his second consecutive FEI 160-kilometre title in Montpazier, France.

Fawzi Nass first attracted international attention when sending out his own horse Krypton Factor to win the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen (1200m, dirt) on Dubai World Cup Night at Meydan in 2012.

That win was noteworthy as Krypton Factor, ridden by Kieren Fallon, defeated Singapore’s champion Rocket Man, with Lucky Nine, Hong Kong’s widely-travelled sprinting star trained by Caspar Fownes, back in third.

“It was my biggest win as a trainer…that was 2012…and I’m still waiting for my Dubai World Cup win.  I’m still looking for that horse,” he laughs.

Nass bought Krypton Factor for 100,000 guineas out of Sir Mark Prescott’s stable at Tattersalls Horses In Training Sale at Newmarket in England. He won five races for Prescott as a two-year-old but went on to win another five for his new owner-trainer.

“I take my hat off to Sir Mark, he was happy to see him win for me and to progress. He is known for selling horses well, but he missed out on Krypton Factor. At 100,000 guineas, I think I finished ahead on that one,” he points out.

Calif was sourced in Germany, having won three times for Peter Schiergen, and purchased by Victorious after winning a Group 2 over 1600m at Baden-Baden. The six-year-old has had five starts in two separate stints with Nass.

In between, he was trained in France by Carlos and Yann Lerner, for whom he won the Group 1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis (2000m) at Munich, beating German Derby winner Fantastic Moon, who later won the G2 Prix Niel (2400m) at Longchamp.

He also finished sixth to Romantic Warrior in the HK$40 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) for the Lerners last December.

Nass believes there is improvement to come from Calif, whose best run for him was a second to Shin Emperor in the G2 Neom Turf Cup (2100m) in February. He then finished last of nine runners in G1 Dubai Sheema Classic (2410m) at Meydan earlier this month but there was a reason for the poor effort according to the trainer.

“We stretched him out to a mile and a half for the first time and that didn’t suit. We won’t do that again. He’s got no mileage on him because we cherry-picked the races for him. He needs gaps between his races.

“He’s a classy horse.  But he needs time,” Nass said.  “To be realistic, we’re hoping for a place in the QEII, to be on the mix. Anything better than that, we will take it.

“I like to travel our horses. Usually in the Gulf, but I’ve also done Singapore, Ascot and now Hong Kong. It means a lot to be running a horse here for the first time,” he says.

Fawzi Nass has long been a trailblazer for Bahrain racing.  This is a new phase in his international career.