Ho Ho Khan conquers G3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup
Ho Ho Khan (122lb) advertised his potential for top-grade races next season with a fine victory in the Group 3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup Handicap (2400m) at Sha Tin this afternoon, Sunday 5 May.
Trainer David Hall suggested his charge would not press on to the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) at the end of this month, with the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races in December a probable long-range target for the improving four-year-old.
“I didn’t discuss (the Champions & Chater Cup) with the owners but my intention would be to put him away now and hopefully he can mature a bit more and we might have a horse for December,” the handler said of the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) fifth.
“There’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge before that happens and we’ll see with his prep runs in October how he’s going and make a decision on what his future is. But he certainly looks like he’s good enough to be there and warrant a solid prep for December.”
Hall won the Queen Mother Memorial Cup previously with Bubble Chic in 2014 and this latest success was his first Group race win since Bundle Of Joy took the same year’s Group 3 National Day Cup.
Jockey Vincent Ho was aboard Bundle Of Joy that day four and half years ago and had Ho Ho Khan mid-pack on the rail in today’s nine-runner feature. The rider switched out at the top of the straight and wound up his mount to accelerate past front-runner Helene Leadingstar (121lb) 250m out. The New Zealand-bred colt stretched two and a half lengths clear of runner-up Savvy Six (113lb) on his first attempt at the distance. Ho Ho Khan (NZ) (Makfi) could have been bought for $65,000 at the 2016 Ready to Run Sale at Karaka, and he took his earnings past HK$6 million (NZ$1.2 million) with this win.
“I knew he would handle the distance and as long as I balanced him up and had a nice, relaxed, smooth run he’d be a good chance. He did it very well,” Ho said.
But neither trainer nor jockey was advancing the notion that the compact son of Makfi is a mile and a half specialist in the making.
“He might just not be an out-and-out 2400-metre horse,” Hall said of the 2.8 favourite. “At the 2000 metres he was still a bit immature. He hasn’t even had a set of blinkers on yet so he still might be sharp enough for 2000.”
And Ho believes his mount could have won his previous race, a quality-packed 2000m Class 1, had he enjoyed a more convenient passage.
“Last time he was third behind Dark Dream and if I’d had a smother run I could have beaten him. At 2000 metres he can still win but it would depend on how the race pans out,” he said.
The in-form rider – leading homegrown jockey this term with 43 wins – believes Ho Ho Khan has enough about him to be competitive at the top.
“He definitely could be,” he added. “He has a good heart and a good temperament and he keeps improving.”
The going was good to yielding, with rain falling for most of the afternoon.