Victorian trainer Jason Warren is excited to get the chance to put his name alongside Singapore’s richest race with Zululand.
The former David Hayes-trained colt has been with Warren since his failure in the Sandown Guineas and will travel to Singapore on Wednesday to prepare for the $S3.035 million ($A2.85 million) CECF Singapore Cup (1800m) on February 22.
Zululand will travel with two former French gallopers now in the care of Sydney trainer John Thompson.
The three make up a contingent of eight international horses and two locals in the ownership of the China Horse Club racing for the record prize money.
The race is restricted to horses owned by the China Horse Club and is part of the China Equine Cultural Festival initiative aimed at promoting Singapore as a destination for Chinese tourism.
Warren took took Group One winner Bel Sprinter to Singapore for the 2013 KrisFlyer Sprint in which the horse finished a gallant second to Hong Kong’s Lucky Nine.
“Zululand came to me two weeks after the Sandown Guineas,” Warren said.
“I’ve been training him for this at Deniston Park and he’s done his quarantine there as well.”
Thompson’s two entries are Auvray, a dual Group winner in France, and Orbec, a winner of his last two races in restricted company also in France.
Both are unraced in Australia and have been based at Warren’s Mornington Peninsula property undergoing quarantine for the past three weeks.
Zululand will remain in Singapore and join the stable of Michael Freedman who has had great success for the China Horse Club including the 2013 Singapore Gold Cup with Tropaios ridden by Tommy Berry.
Thompson has been associated with the China Horse Club since its emergence on the world stage.
He trains Group One winning filly First Seal for the organisation and oversaw the preparation for the first internationally endorsed race meeting in mainland China in late 2013.
Flight Stakes winner First Seal will begin her latest campaign in the Light Fingers Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
Other international trainers heading to Singapore for the CECF Singapore Cup with China Horse Club owned horses are US trainer Christophe Clement, his French based brother Nicolas and UK based Roger Varian.
Article from justhorseracing.com.au
