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A surprise trip to Hong Kong for next month's $HK12 million Champions Mile could be on the agenda for Doncaster Mile topweight Shoot Out.
Photo by Racing and Sports
The Chris Waller-trained Shoot Out is among the selections for the Champions Mile at Sha Tin on May 5 announced on Wednesday by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Connections will wait until after Saturday's Doncaster to confirm if the five-time G1 winner will make the trip to Hong Kong but the fact that s Waller has nominated the gelding indicates that he has the race on the radar.
New Zealand's 10-time G1 winner King Mufhasa, trained by Bruce Wallace, is already confirmed to make the trip for the Champions Mile.
The veteran King Mufhasa was a fine last start second to champion three-year-old Pierro in the G1 George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill on April 6.
Shoot Out finished third in the George Ryder after recording his second successive win in the G1 Chiping Norton Stakes at Warwick Farm.
Europe will be represented in the Champions Mile by Penitent, a dual G2 winner at a mile in Britain for trainer David O'Meara and runner-up in last season's G1 Prix de la Foret at Longchamp.
Hong Kong's two-time Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon could also line up just seven days after he is due to contest the G1 QEII Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin in an attempt to complete an unprecedented double.
“We will focus on the APQEII as our first hurdle and as long as he comes out of it in good shape, we intend to give the Champions Mile a go,” said trainer Tony Millard.
Other leading HK-trained contenders include Glorious Days and Xtension, the pair that filled the quinella in last year's Champions Mile.
“This year's Champions Mile is a race with some intriguing sub-plots,” said William A Nader, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Executive Director of Racing.
“Ambitious Dragon is a superstar with the credentials to pull off an APQEII and Champions Mile double, but it is a very tall order as the strong Australian form of King Mufhasa and Shoot Out will test the Hong Kong defence," Nader said.