Racing
Arc form to the fore in Hong Kong Vase
French galloper scored in first of Hong Kong International Races highlights.
Fortune in Hong Kong favoured French-trained Sosie better than it did in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and that was all the difference in winning the Hong Kong Vase
Third placed in the mile-and-a-half Arc after suffering interference before the home turn and having to carve home strong sectionals nab a placing, Sosie ($2.70) justified the late market support to take out the Group 1 2400-metre feature at Sha Tin.
It is the first time the French-trained four-year-old had travelled outside of Europe and the UK, and jockey Maxime Guyon praised how well the entire took to the trip away to Hong Kong.
"This morning he was so relaxed," Guyon said.
"He is very easy to ride and very quiet. If he could win today, he can win them all."
Sosie beat home 2024 Vase winner Giavellotto by a neck-margin – similar to the Arc where the latter finished fourth - with Goliath a neck away in third.
It is the second time jockey Maxime Guyon and trainer Andre Fabre have combined to win the Vase after Flintshire scored in 2014.
For Fabre, it was also a second win in two years after Junko took it out in 2023.
For Giavellotto, trainer Maroc Botti conceded that he had just met a better horse on the day.
"The pace wasn't that strong," Botti said.
"Sosie just kept finding more. It was a good run though."
Considered an unlucky runner when finishing outside of the placings in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) last month, Al Riffa had to settle for fourth here.
"He ran a super race," jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle said.
"He wasn't the quickest into stride from the gates which wasn't ideal over this trip but he finished good."
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