Four-time champion trainer Caspar Fownes is calling on the Jockey Club to increase the number of staying races on its programme as he prepares to saddle three runners, including defending champion Senor Toba and rising star Straight Arron, in Sunday’s Group Three Queen Mother Memorial Cup (2,400m) at Sha Tin.
Not since the 2017 edition won by Eagle Way has a Queen Mother Memorial Cup attracted a larger field than the one for this weekend’s intriguing renewal, which features four winners of Group One contests around the globe – Russian Emperor, Panfield, Butterfield and Beautyverse.
The Queen Mother Memorial Cup is one of only three 2,400m events on the calendar, and the other two are Group One contests – the Hong Kong Vase in December and the Champions & Chater Cup later this month. Furthermore, of this season’s 634 started races – falls led to the abandonment of two – only 11 of them have been beyond 2,000m, with gallopers rated higher than 80 eligible for just two of those.
Fownes believes the Jockey Club should, as part of its push to encourage owners to import high-quality gallopers, boost the number of staying races. The 55-year-old handler references his frustrations placing his other Queen Mother Memorial Cup runner, Columbus County, in suitable events in recent campaigns.
“Absolutely, there should be more staying races, and there should be some leading into the December race as well,” Fownes said. “The Jockey Club is enticing owners to pay big money with its PP scheme, to be trying to buy horses who stay [beyond a mile].
“They’re putting more money into those races. At the end of the day, they need to put the races on, but sometimes they don’t want to put the races on because there’s not enough numbers. It’s a bit of a balance.
“Hopefully, going forward, they’ll do that because there’s quite a few nice staying horses who need chances to acquit themselves at distances that suit them. Even at Happy Valley, there’s no reason they don’t have Class Two and Class One 2,200m races.
“It’s about encouraging our clients to spend good money because there’ll be races for them. Look at Columbus County. He was rated 105. I couldn’t find a race for him for months. It’s frustrating.”
Columbus County, who finished eighth of eight in last month’s Group Two Chairman’s Trophy (1,600m) on what was only his second appearance this term, is “a chance to run in the first three or four” of the Queen Mother Memorial Cup, according to Fownes.
Senor Toba goes for his second Queen Mother Memorial Cup title off a rating 25 points higher than the mark off which he beat Butterfield by two lengths in the 2022 edition. Fownes forecasts him performing much better than he did in the Middle East recently.
“He was disappointing overseas, but he had his excuses,” said Fownes of Senor Toba, who placed seventh in Qatar before an eighth and a 10th in the United Arab Emirates. “We’re going to see if he can bounce back. He’s a big, strong horse. He should be able to carry the weight, and this is a trip he handles really well. He was impressive in his win last year. I’d expect him to run in the first four.”
However, Fownes’ Queen Mother Memorial Cup first string is Straight Arron, whom the trainer thinks would have won this season’s Derby (2,000m) if the classic contest had been run at a genuine tempo and should handle stepping up to 2,400m on Sunday.
Fownes declares Straight Arron would have won a genuinely run Hong Kong Derby
“He’s learning how to race the right way, and he’s done nothing wrong since he’s joined me,” said Fownes of Straight Arron, who has won two of his three races since leaving David Hayes’ stable in early February.
“He’s got a soft gate, and we’ll just be switching him off. Under handicap conditions, if he runs the trip out, I’m sure he’ll show something good.”
It would take something special from Straight Arron in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup to persuade Fownes to run him in the Champions & Chater Cup on May 28.
“Running in Group Ones, I’m a little bit against it when their rating isn’t there yet,” said Fownes, who has chosen to run Straight Arron four points outside the handicap in this weekend’s Group Three event.
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