Ten-year-old Indigenous, a giant in the history of Hong Kong racing, will almost certainly have his last race on local soil tomorrow when he indulges in a gallop down memory lane in the $8 million ING Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup.
The evergreen galloper won the domestic Group One race in 1997 and again in 1998 as a precursor to an even more important role as Hong Kong's roving ambassador.
In those days he was a giant-killer but as his performances and reputation grew, he became the giant himself.
Indigenous is the name and staying is his game. And although the no-fuss brown gelding has raced just twice this year, he was consistently measuring up in the best international races right through to last season as a nine-year-old.
Now, unless the Jockey Club makes an amendment to the rules and allows him to race on next season, the curtain will come down on the career of a mighty contributor, a streetfighter who made courage count as much as ability as he racked up more than $45 million in prizemoney over eight seasons of racing across six countries.
Indigenous was bred by the Oldtown Stud, owned by Major John de Burgh of County Kildare. As a three-year-old, the son of Epsom Derby runner-up Marju was trained by Kevin Prendergast at The Curragh, where the handicapper at the Irish Turf Club was none other than Ciaran Kennelly, who now oversees handicapping and international racing in Hong Kong.