Werther will need to see off new rivals as well as old foes if he is to win Sunday’s Gr.2
BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin Racecourse, but trainer John Moore is confident his former Horse of the Year is still the king of Hong Kong’s 10-furlong division.
“He’s showing me that he’s still as good as he ever was,” Moore said of his three-time Group One winner.
Exactly a year ago, Werther was recovering from a setback that forced his absence from this race and the Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup. Moore is aiming to peak the six-year-old for this year’s edition of the latter contest in three weeks’ time, but he still expects a big run this weekend.
“He’s had no setbacks and hasn’t put a foot wrong in his preparation but he’s not fully fit for this race on Sunday, I want to stress that the grand final is three weeks away,” Moore said. “But even though he’s going in just slightly underdone, in my opinion, he’s still the one to beat.”
Werther’s three wins from four starts at the course and distance include scores in the 2016 BMW Hong Kong Derby and Gr.1 AP QEII Cup, and last season’s Gr.1 Hong Kong Gold Cup. That QEII Cup win, ranked as his best career performance, was achieved on a wet track and Moore is hoping the heavens might open again between now and race time.
“If it rains, he grows another leg! If we get some rain on Saturday to give at least some cushion, well, he’s lengths better when there’s cut in the ground,” the handler said.
The New Zealand-bred galloper enjoyed a fine pipe-opener for the season when sixth in the Gr.2 Sha Tin Trophy Handicap over a mile on 22 October.
“He ran well but he didn’t have the blinkers on, so he probably didn’t show up as forward as he has in previous first-up runs,” jockey Tommy Berry said. “But he was hitting the line really well and his trackwork’s been good since. He galloped on Thursday morning and he really enjoyed that cushion we had in the track then.
Werther is set to meet last year’s Jockey Club Cup winner Secret Weapon, a horse he has always defeated, as well as some of Hong Kong’s rising stars - Nassa, Time Warp and Gold Mount. The Tavistock gelding will concede a 5lb penalty to each of his seven rivals on Sunday.
“I’m not worried about the five-pound penalty; he’s the best horse in the race. At the weights, he should be winning the race. He only has to do what he’s done before,” Moore said.
Gold Mount is the only one of those three emerging rivals to have encountered Werther. That was in last season’s G1 Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) in which Werther won and the less experienced Gold Mount was fifth. Nassa and Time Warp, meanwhile, sprang into contention for top honours with a dramatic one-two finish in the G3 Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse Handicap (1800m) two weeks ago.
“I would be confident he can put those younger horses in their place,” Berry said. “Werther’s shown in the past that he’s a high quality horse and one of the best in Hong Kong. There are some nice horses coming through but he’s in good form, and, even though he’s not 100 percent yet, he’s not far off. He’ll be hard to beat.” HKJC