Caspar Fownes is breathing a huge sigh of relief that two of his Group One contenders on Champions Day, Columbus County and Zebrowski, are back in Hong Kong.
The champion trainer was starting to worry that his best-laid plans had gone awry but the resumption of cross-border movement for horses this week after a lengthy stalemate resulted in two of his star performers returning from Conghua on Friday, just nine days before their big targets at Sha Tin next week.
“It had been close a few times but at least it’s locked and loaded now,” Fownes said. “It’s been unfortunate but hopefully we can move on and get some results now we’ve got horses going back and forth.”
Fownes has been forced to change his desired targets for some of his horses but feels it’s important for a trainer to be able to roll with the punches.
“It’s my job as a trainer to deal with different circumstances all the time,” Fownes said. “We deal with horses who have got problems, we deal with horses that aren’t eating well and horses who are running over different distances, so we have to be able to input that into their training regime and get the balancing act right.
“We’ve had a few horses in Conghua targeting a certain race and then you’re held back. The horses are at peak form and all of a sudden you have to try and balance them to make sure they haven’t gone over the top. You’ve just got to make sure they are in really good fitness as well as not being flat. There’s a fine line between that.
“In regards to the two Group One horses who were there, we’ve given them a great prep and obviously we hope it’s game on for next week. I’m sure they’ll run their races and they are in good nick.”
Despite the recent travel restrictions, Fownes will certainly not be shy of using Conghua as long as the border is open as he feels the facilities bring out the best in his gallopers.
“Conghua has been brilliant for Hong Kong horses. The fact we can work on the grass and they can get consistent going means you are not jarring them all the time like we are in Hong Kong with the all-weather track,” he said.
“There are so many options available to a horse, so many training tools. You’ve got uphill gallops, massive trotting rings, a big swimming pool. It gets a horse mentally feeling better in themselves.”
Fownes is now just two winners shy of joining John Moore, John Size and Tony Cruz as the only trainers to reach 1,000 winners in Hong Kong and he is hopeful of reaching that milestone soon.
“I thought at Happy Valley during the week that I had a chance to get a couple of winners but my first two runners there came back with really sore eyes after getting a whack,” Fownes said.
Jockey Club resumes cross-border horse movement after four-week stalemate
“But it’s like any of those things, winners will come and I hope we’ll get to the 1,000 in the next couple of meetings.”
If he is to add to his 998 Hong Kong wins this weekend, it could well be with All In Mind, who makes his first start for the trainer in the Class Three D’Aguilar Peak Handicap (1,200m) after previously being with Cruz and Chris So Wai-yin.
“It’s unfortunate that he’s drawn wide in 11,” Fownes said. “We rode him conservatively in the trial and he looked to appreciate that.
“It was his first time on the dirt and he looked to handle it quite nicely but it’s one thing to see them do it in a trial in the morning and another to see them do it in race conditions.”
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