Sir Alex gets into the Spirit at Sha Tin
Manchester United legend is counting on Spirit Dancer to score a goal in ‘away game’
Sir Alex Ferguson may have dropped out of the football limelight, but he will be chasing glory in a different arena, in Hong Kong on Dec 8 – horse racing.
The legendary former Manchester United manager landed in the former British colony on Dec 7 to watch his horse Spirit Dancer – whom he also bred and now shares with Peter Done and Ged Mason – contest the HK$40 million (S$6.89 million) Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Cup (2,000m) at Sha Tin.
While United have often walked onto the pitch as favourites, the Frankel seven-year-old will be among 10 underdogs out to lower the boom of two-time Cup winner and local hero Romantic Warrior.
Prepared by North Yorkshire-based Irish trainer Richard Fahey, Spirit Dancer actually boasts some of the finer credentials among the seven overseas raiders.
At his last start, he won his second Group 2 Bahrain International Trophy (2,000m) on Nov 15, and nine months earlier, he also ruled the Middle East with a similar come-from-behind win in the Group 2 Neom Turf Cup (2,100m) in Saudi Arabia in February.
The jury is still out whether the formline from those two wins will be good enough to upstage the stellar Hong Kong Cup field, to become the first British horse to win the race since Snow Fairy in 2010.
Ferguson is under no illusions the mission ahead is daunting, but cheekily used a football jargon to keep things in context.
“It won’t be easy taking on the best in Hong Kong on their own turf. It’s another big away game for us,” the 82-year-old told reporters.
Fahey is also conscious it will take something out of the box from his ward to derail Romantic Warrior’s hat-trick bid, or defy top Japanese mare Liberty Island or even leading local hope Straight Arron.
But he cannot fault his ward, hopeful Ferguson can claim his biggest win since Rock Of Gibraltar, who won Group 1s across three countries, such as the 2000 Guineas and Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, both in 2002.
“I genuinely thought his last run in Bahrain was the best of his life,” Fahey told the Hong Kong Jockey Club website.
“In the last 100 yards, he finished off very well. The race was run 4½ seconds faster than last year and there’s no reason why it should have been as it was over the same ground and trip. I just thought it was a huge performance.”
Spirit Dancer has been luckless on his only two previous tries at the highest level in Dubai, having finished fourth in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta (1,800m) in January and 11th in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic (2,410m) in March.
However, Fahey felt the nine-time winner did not get a chance to show his true ability at that last run on Dubai World Cup night.
“He stumbled coming out of the gates in Dubai and came back quite sore,” said Fahey. “We X-rayed him and we were a bit shocked to see the extent of the damage.
“Everything has been fine since and he hasn’t taken a lame step.”
Spirit Dancer has drawn the second worst alley in 10, with regular rider Oisin Orr tasked to steer him.
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