'I'm looking forward to having him, but it's going to be difficult to improve a horse from Sir Michael Stoute' - Allan
Hong Kong Vase favourite Daliapour was yesterday bought to remain here after Sunday's 2,400-metre spectacular in one of the biggest and best deals ever for local racing. The four-year-old son of Sadler's Wells, Group One hero of the Coronation Cup and runner-up in last season's English Derby, was purchased by property tycoon Robert Ng Chee Siong for a sum thought to be near US$1 million after the colt impressed in a Sha Tin workout yesterday morning.
After Sunday, Daliapour will be trained by Ivan Allan. But Daliapour will officially remain in the care of Newmarket handler Sir Michael Stoute for this weekend's Group One staying event, where he will race in Ng's red and purple silks rather than the green with red epaulets of his former owner, the Aga Khan. It is understood that the world's hottest big-race rider, Irishman Johnny Murtagh, who has 11 Group One triumphs to his name this campaign, will retain the ride.
Allan said yesterday: 'He's a lovely horse. I'm looking forward to having him, but it's going to be difficult to improve a horse from Sir Michael Stoute. It would be good to win another big one with him. The sort of races he will be aimed at are the [Audemars Piguet] Queen Elizabeth II Cup and the [Aetna Hong Kong] Champions and Chater Cup.'
The master mentor, who has done so well with other big-name purchases from England, such as last season's Champions and Chater Cup winner Housemaster and his versatile 1997 Derby winner Oriental Express, added: 'But first of all I will give him a rest after Sunday and aim him for the Dubai Sheema Classic next March.'
Ng is the chairman of Sino Land and one of the SAR's most successful property tycoons. One of Sino Land's offshoots, Sino Hotels, is the major stakeholder in the Conrad Hotel, while Ng's company was also responsible, in partnership with Sun Hung Kai Properties, for the development of Hong Kong's tallest building, Central Plaza.
He and his father Ng Teng Fong, a keen race fan, have some 70 horses in training in their native Singapore, where Ng senior owns three-quarters of the island state's main drag, Orchard Road. The Ng horses race under the banner Lucky Stable and are with trainers such as Charles Leck and Malcolm Thwaites, though Allan trained a Singaporean Derby winner and several Singapore Gold Cup winners for the family before moving to Hong Kong.