And then there were eight: Numbers dwindle for QE II Cup as Champions Day features decimated by withdrawals
Only eight will battle it out in the HK$24 million QE II Cup with the Chairman’s Sprint Prize down to nine runners and Champions Mile looking at just 10
The Champions Day features were decimated by withdrawals of all three Coolmore entrants and local hope Exultant on Wednesday but the Jockey Club will not add runners to boost the depleted fields for the three Group Ones on April 29.
Coolmore informed the Club that its three horses would not make the trip and when War Decree was withdrawn from the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup and when trainer Tony Cruz took Exultant out later in the day it left the HK$24 million feature with just eight runners for the second straight year.
The other two features weren’t spared either, with the Chairman’s Sprint Prize down to nine runners after Coolmore’s Washington DC came out along with locals Notlistenin’tome and Winner’s Way, and the Champions Mile is down to 10 following Ballydoyle’s decision to not send Lancaster Bomber.
“We won’t be adding runners when there’s really no valid reason to – it wouldn’t be adding to the overall quality of the races,” the Jockey Club’s director of racing Bill Nader said. “With races of this magnitude, we always prefer quality over quantity. Of course we would prefer both full and strong fields, but all three Group Ones are among the world’s top 100 races and maintaining quality is paramount.”
Coolmore trainer Aidan O’Brien told the Jockey Club that his three horses, which had all competed in Dubai and then returned to Ireland, hadn’t pleased him sufficiently since to justify a trip to Sha Tin.
“They’ve been a great supporter of our races, we have a solid connection with Coolmore and we are optimistic that they will be back in December for the International Races,” Nader said.