'He will be very hard to beat in Hong Kong'
Australia's two best male racehorses at the present time - Grand Armee and Elvstroem - were both confirmed yesterday as contenders for the $14 million Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin on April 24.
Grand Armee won at Group One level over 2,000 metres at Randwick yesterday in the Australian Jockey Club's version - the A$750,000 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes - and was immediately confirmed as a Hong Kong contender by trainer Gai Waterhouse and owner Alan Bell.
Meanwhile, Frank Tagg, manager of the syndicate which races Elvstroem, confirmed the valuable Danehill stallion would fly in from Dubai for the QE-II, rather than direct to England as some members of the partnership had wanted.
A telephone link-up of syndicate members on Friday night voted in favour of supporting trainer Tony Vasil, who had made it clear that coming to Hong Kong was not only his preference but his strong recommendation.
Tagg said he would be attempting to contact the Hong Kong Jockey Club late yesterday to make the confirmation, with the club scheduled to announce the international invitees for the big race on Tuesday.
