Marco Botti encouraged by Oisin Murphy’s vote of confidence as Giavellotto targets LONGINES Hong Kong Vase
07/12/2024 10:40
Oisin Murphy has been an instrumental figure in Giavellotto’s career and the rider believes Marco Botti’s stayer is the perfect fit for the HK$24 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (8 December).
While Giavellotto has been ridden by Hong Kong jockeys both past and present in Neil Callan and Andrea Atzeni, it is Murphy who partnered him to win a second G2 Yorkshire Cup (2771m) in May and the G2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes (2400m) in July.
Murphy was also aboard when Giavellotto finished third to champion stayer Kyprios in the G1 Irish St Leger (2800m) at the Curragh in September, after which a crack at the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase was immediately suggested.
“Things didn’t quite go to plan in Ireland, it was quite a slow race and it didn’t suit him,” Botti explained.
“After the race, I spoke to Oisin and he was adamant we should go to Hong Kong because he believes the race will suit him – they tend to go quicker and he wants fast ground.
“Oisin will ride him on Sunday as he knows him well and gets the best out of him. Giavellotto is still relatively lightly raced this year and he’s been kept fresh, so we made the decision to take our chance.”
Giavellotto is a seasoned traveller after two visits to Dubai and a trip to Saudi Arabia, and Botti is hopeful his latest international voyage can reap Group 1 rewards after drawing stall five at the official ceremony on Thursday.
He said: “He’s in good form and he likes to be on the plane. He’s always run well abroad and that gives us confidence. He’s a strong, fully mature horse and he’s definitely got quicker this year, therefore we want to take our chance over a mile and a half.
“We dropped him back to a mile and a half at Newmarket this year and he travelled strongly through the race and he won nicely. I know the mile and a half at Sha Tin is a different track, but that’s where the idea came from.”
The step up to the Hong Kong Vase distance saw Dubai Honour secure a third G1 triumph in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (2400m) in June.
The six-year-old is a regular competitor over the HK$40 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) distance, having finished fourth in the 2021 running and third and seventh in the last two runnings of the QEII Cup over the same trip.
However, rather than a third clash with Romantic Warrior, this time connections have opted for the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, with the trainer’s wife and assistant Maureen among those encouraged by his efforts over the trip this summer.
“He’s getting a bit older and he won in France over a mile and a half earlier in the year,” she said. “He seemed to stay the trip really well and enjoy it. It just looks as though it's better for him now.”
Dubai Honour will break to Giavellotto's outside in stall six. Both will be bidding to become the first British winner of the race since the popular campaigner Red Cadeaux in 2012.
