KEY POINTS:
He's Europe's horse of the year. He's the highest rated horse to arrive in Hong Kong and he is one of the star acts of the Hong Kong international meeting on Sunday.
His name is Dylan Thomas but the horse's Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien says he is playing catch up to have the horse at a peak for the HK$14 million ($2.3 million) Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin. The complicating factor for O'Brien was the horse being denied a start in the Japan Cup on November 25.
That was to have been Dylan Thomas' swan song before retirement to stud. But an inoculation the horse had earlier received for his impending career as a sire had not sufficiently cleared his system to allow him to run in the Cup under Japan's strict rules.
So Sunday's Hong Kong Vase was added to Dylan Thomas' agenda but it will now be more than six weeks between races.
That's the main concern for O'Brien considering Dylan Thomas is a strapping four-year-old by Danehill and has been held back by an extra quarantine period after being transferred from Japan to Hong Kong.
"He's one of those real good, typical Danehills who thrives," O'Brien said last night.
"He did get away on us (in fitness) a little bit because of the travel and quarantine. We are hopeful we can get him back (to top racing trim)."
O'Brien said he had ploughed the work into Dylan Thomas this week and it would continue through to Sunday.
"We couldn't have done any more in the last week than we have done.
"We have to chase him because he is a big horse who is thriving. He just needs to be kept working. He's a horse with an unbelievable constitution.
O'Brien said Dylan Thomas had put on weight but that had been the trend throughout the year.
"He's a little bit up (in weight). But since he started racing this year, his weight went up all the time."
Dylan Thomas won four group one races this year. They included two of Europe's feature staying races, the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m) in England and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (2400m) in France.
Dylan Thomas has won six group one races in all and is the world's highest rated horse still racing.
But if anyone can peak a horse for a race it is O'Brien. He is one of the world's best and trained 23 group one winners in one year.
Strongest opposition for Dylan Thomas could come from the German representative Quijano.
He has won 12 of 16 starts, including Germany's most prestigious race, the Grosser Preis von Baden (2400m), in September.
Quijano is trained by Peter Schiergen, a former top jockey in Germany who turned his hand to training only 10 years ago but has already achieved remarkable results, including winning Germany's premier event, the Gross Preis von Baden, three times.
* A total of 24 overseas horses from nine countries contest Sunday's four international races and are opposed by 22 locally-trained horses.
There are no New Zealand-trained runners but there are six New Zealand-breds. Two of them - Vital King and Ever Bright - are in the Hong Kong Vase and are from the Hong Kong stable of former New Zealand trainer Paul O'Sullivan.
- NZPA
