The loneliness of long distance travel can be as troubling for horses as it is for humans.
And as New Zealand trainer John Bary has discovered, it is one of dozens of obstacles in the world of global horse racing that need to be overcome on the way to success.
Bary is in Hong Kong with his high class galloper Jimmy Choux for Sunday’s “World Turf Championships” at Sha Tin.
Jimmy Choux is one of the top fancies in the $HK20 million Hong Kong Mile (1600m) and has settled into the unusual environment in the Chinese territory without too much trouble, thanks largely to the innovative thinking of his trainer.
“He was a bit lonely when he arrived, he fretted a bit,” Bary said.
“But we’ve tried a few things that seem to have worked.”
Relying on his experience in travelling around the world with polo ponies, Bary, a relative novice as a racehorse trainer, installed some comforting accessories to the horse’s stable.
As a result Jimmy Choux is the only horse in Hong Kong with a personal sound system in his box through which are played a selection of his favourite hits.
Bary has also relied on a piece of illusion to keep his horse happy.
“We put in a mirror which he looks at and sees himself and thinks he’s got company,” he said.
Jimmy Choux, the Cox Plate runner-up, is the only horse from Australia or New Zealand in Hong Kong’s four international races.
If carrying the flag alone isn’t enough of a burden, he will be bidding to be the first Australasian-trained runner in a decade to win one the international races, the most recent being Falvelon in 2001 in the Hong Kong Sprint.
While direct representation may be missing, Hong Kong’s international meeting won’t be short of Australasian influence.
As usual, the Sprint (1200m) features a broad selection of horses bred Down Under, led by the nominal favourite Rocket Man, a South African-owned, Singapore-trained son of Viscount.
Australian breeders are also represented by locally-trained runner and 2007 winner Sacred Kingdom along with Admiration, Green Birdie, Entrapment and Rich Unicorn.
In the feature race, the $HK20m Hong Kong Cup (2000m) the top local hope Ambitious Dragon is a New Zealand-bred son of Pins and the defending champion in the Mile, Beauty Flash, is also NZ-bred, as is the veteran local runner Able One.
AAP TURF
