Connections hoping Howdeepisyourlove can channel globetrotter Cape Of Good Hope
Honest speedster will chase his maiden Group One success in Saturday's Al Quoz Sprint (1,200m) in Dubai
Connections of Howdeepisyourlove hope their honest sprinter can channel Group One-winning globetrotter Cape Of Good Hope when he tackles Saturday's Group One Al Quoz Sprint (1,200m) in Dubai.
Tired of living in the shadow of the great Silent Witness at home in Hong Kong, the David Oughton-trained Cape Of Good Hope hit the road – racing a remarkable 12 times overseas and bagging wins in the Group One Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1,200m) in the United Kingdom and the Group One William Reid Stakes (1,200m) at Moonee Valley in 2005.
A Group Three winner in Hong Kong, the John Size-trained Howdeepisyourlove has produced consecutive Group One third placings behind superstar sprinter Ka Ying Rising and the classy Helios Express.
'Anyone who has been in Hong Kong for as long as I have remembers the Cape Of Good Hope story, where he got sick of chasing Silent Witness so they said 'let's go overseas' and they took him around the planet and started winning races,' said bloodstock agent David Price, who sourced both Silent Witness and Howdeepisyourlove.
'I'm not quite sure it'll be the same as that, but I know how much John likes this meeting and this just looked such a good target for him.
'You sit there and go 'do we want to keep chasing [Ka Ying Rising] or do we want a little bit of glory ourselves?'.'
In chasing his first Group One success, Howdeepisyourlove will also be hunting a first overseas victory for trainer Size and a breakthrough Al Quoz Sprint win for Price's Price Bloodstock operation.
It'll be the third year in a row Size and Price have had a presence in the Al Quoz Sprint, with Sight Success running fourth in 2023 and fifth behind fellow Hong Kong galloper California Spangle last year.
'We've had a couple of goes at it – it just fits. It's such good timing,' said Price, who also had the David Hall-trained Bundle Of Joy run fifth in the race in 2015.
'I feel like Howdeepisyourlove looks like a slightly upgraded model [compared to Sight Success] and it's hard not to be excited by what we're seeing on paper.
'I would say this is as good as one of ours has looked going into an overseas race out of most of the recent ones,' added Price, who tasted Group One glory abroad thanks to Silent Witness' victory in the 2005 Sprinters Stakes (1,200m) in Japan.
A $3.20 favourite in fixed-odds markets, Howdeepisyourlove's closest market rival is British galloper Believing, who he beat home by seven lengths when running fifth in last April's Group One Chairman's Sprint Prize (1,200m).
'I'm really looking forward to his race,' said Howdeepisyourlove's jockey James McDonald. 'He's a really good horse who's really consistent, so I think that's a really good thing when travelling.
'He's competed against the best sprinter in the world at the moment in Ka Ying Rising. Obviously a fair way back behind him, but he's always second or third duelling it out with Helios Express.
'I think that formline is as good as any sprinting formline around. You could safely say if Ka Ying Rising was in this field he'd be a very short-priced favourite and probably winning by four or five lengths, so we're in the ballpark and I think he's a terrific hope.'
Hong Kong has a strong record in the Al Quoz Sprint, winning it three times from 17 runners, and Price knows a fourth success would mean a lot to all involved, including Colin Lo Chor-cheong – who raced Bundle Of Joy and is part of the Lo Profile Syndicate that owns Howdeepisyourlove.
'I'm always happy when they win for other people, so it's a little bit unique,' he said.
'There's a couple of syndicate members who have been good friends for a long time and they can't believe we're on this ride. I'm very excited to be a part of it, that's for sure.'
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