Helene Paragon a top Chairman’s Trophy chance despite weight

Helene Paragon
John Moore’s Helene Paragon might not be suited by the weights in Sunday’s Chairman’s Handicap, but punters are backing it in.

HELENE Paragon is travelling well heading into Sunday’s Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy, but the quality son of Polan will have to carry more weight than it’s used to.

The John Moore-trained runner has won the Group 1 Stewards’ Cup and Group 1 Silver Jubilee Cup already this season with both wins giving Helene Paragon a weight disadvantage for Sunday’s feature.

Moore stated, whilst in Australia for the Easter Yearling Sale, that despite being weighted poorly, it’s a good winning chance at odds of +300 with Bet365.

“Helene Paragon has to give five pounds to Rapper Dragon, and he’s also at level weights with Werther, so I guess that doesn’t help,” Moore said.

“But he’s a bulldog, I’ve said for months that he is a fighter – he just gives his all and rises to the occasion.

“This run will bring him on so that he is spot on for the Champions Mile.”

Helene Paragon ran 51.5 seconds in an 800m breeze down on Monday and jockey Douglas Whyte is pleased with what he felt.

“I can’t fault him,” Whyte said. “His form feels good. I didn’t do much with him this morning, but I put him on the turf on Monday and he feels in reasonable order.

“I can’t say he’s feeling any better than he has been, but if he holds his form, if the Helene Paragon that we know turns up, he’ll be competitive.”

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Whyte agreed that the weight penalty wasn’t going to help its chances, but that was expected given its group one success.

“The five-pound penalty is of course a concern, you would have liked it to be the other way around, but when you win the big ones, you pay the price in these races,” Whyte said.

Whyte hasn’t ridden the Spanish import since it ran fifth at only its second start in Hong Kong.

“I still remember riding him that once, you don’t forget it easily,” Whyte said. “He made a run up the inside, and I said to John, ‘Gee, you have a nice horse on your hands.’ He was just a bit dumb and new and he wasn’t quite ring-ready, he wasn’t confident, but I told John that once it all came together for him, he’d be a force to be reckoned with.

“The way he let down that day, he gave me a very good feel and we’ve seen what he’s done since.”

Like many fields in Hong Kong, John Moore has multiple runners in the field which includes $19 chance Designs On Rome.

Jockey Karis Teetan rode the local favourite on Thursday and it was business as usual for the multiple group one winner.

“I just worked Designs On Rome this morning,” Teetan said. “To be honest, every time I have worked him or trialled him, he has surprised me.

“I said to Mr Moore last time I worked him, he’s a real warrior horse because he just wants to fight all the time.

“I think he just needs the race to suit him, if he gets his right run, then he’ll be competitive – I’m not saying he’ll go there and beat all of them but he’ll run to his best again.”

Teetan believes the weight will allow his runner to find its feet and show it’s usual turn-of-foot.

“The good thing is, he’s flying at the moment,” Teetan said. “I’m sure he will do his best. His most recent trial, he got to the outside and he was really working through the line late.

“He did beat many of these horses in that race in October carrying 133 pounds, now he doesn’t have to carry any penalty here so I think that if it sets up for him, he can surprise.”

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