Steve Moran reports from Hong Kong: Jimmy Choux's connections excited ahead of Hong Kong Mile

Jimmy Choux is going better than ever ahead of the Hong Kong Mile.

Thursday, 8 December 2011

Jimmy Choux is going better than ever ahead of the Hong Kong Mile.

Cox Plate runner-up Jimmy Choux's impressive work on the turf course proper at Sha Tin this morning has trainer John Bary and jockey Jonathan Riddell excited on his prospects in the $2.5 million Hong Kong International Mile on Sunday.

'I've been looking forward to this for quite a while and even more so after he worked well this morning,' said Riddell who has ridden successfully in Japan, the UK and America but that was when making a name for himself as a top jumps jockey.

'It's great to be here. Fantastic to ride in a major international race on the flat. It's been in the planning for quite a while, in fact right from the start of his campaign which I thought might have been jumping the gun a bit but here we are. And I wanted to be part of it. I wasn't going to get rubbed out (suspended). I've been riding with the indicators on of late,' he joked.

Riddell said that Jimmy Choux was such a genuine and adaptable horse that it made his job a little easier. 'He takes the pressure off because you know he'll give his best, you know he'll respond when you ask him and you can ride him anywhere in a race. Touch wood, I think he'll run very well on Sunday,' he said.

Jimmy Choux galloped over 1200m in 1.15.2 and skipped home the last 400m in 23.8. He looked to be going quicker.

'He's a bit like that, a bit deceiving. He did it well this morning and I think he's about where we want him although he may have another 600m gallop on Friday,' said trainer Bary.

Jimmy Choux seeks a second New Zealand victory in the race, following Sunline's success in 2000 and will carry the hopes of Australasia as the only representative from the region in Sunday's four Internationals.

'The horse is well in himself,' said Bary, 'he may even be a littler better than he was leading into the Cox Plate. His coat's fantastic with a copper sheen and while he's been up since June, we've spaced his races. When he's on song he's got a devastating turn of foot and the mile suits him.

'We could have looked at the Cup at 2000 metres but settled on the mile (1600 metres). I spoke to Trevor McKee (Sunline's trainer) and he said go to the mile first as it's less taxing and it's more like an 1800 metres race in any case,' Bary said.

Sunline contested the Cup on her first visit to Hong Kong in 1999 and finished seventh before returning a year later to win the International Mile.

Bary's only concern is that the horse is unaccompanied in his barn. 'It's not ideal for a kiwi horse who's used to being out in a paddock and it's a pity there isn't another horse from Australia or New Zealand but it is what it is,' he said.

Bary has employed the old horseman's trick of having a mirror in the stable - not to mention an Ipod with Jimmy Choux's preferred listening the Black Eyed Peas.

Jimmy Choux certainly looms as a leading player in the Mile but the locals, headed by Xtension, Flying Blue, Destined For Glory and Fair Trade, will be hard to beat. Hong Kong has provided eight winners and 19 placegetters in the Mile since 1991.

The last start winners in France Cityscape and Rajsaman along with Sahpresa and Apapane, both Group 1 placed at their latest runs in Japan, make up the international challenge aside from Jimmy Choux.





 


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