Massive Sovereign will aim to join rare company when he lines up in the HK$28 million G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Coming off two incredible winning performances, including in the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m), Massive Sovereign is bidding to join Vengeance Of Rain (2005), Ambitious Dragon (2011), Designs On Rome (2014), Werther (2016) and Romantic Warrior (2022) by completing the Derby-QEII Cup double in the same season.
Perhaps Hong Kong racing’s brightest rising star, Massive Sovereign reunites with the city’s dominant force, Zac Purton. The winner of 1,701 races, Purton has partnered Massive Sovereign in both winning outings for former champion trainer Dennis Yip.
“It’s hard to do what he did in the Derby, but he’s against his own age there, and now he has to go and do it against the older horses. It’s another big step for him. I’m hopeful that he’s able to do it,” Purton said.
“It’s a good chance to see how he measures up against the older horses. He felt really good in his trial last Friday. This race gives us our chance to see how we measure up.”
Massive Sovereign rounded up his Derby rivals last month in race record time (since the distance was extended to 2000m), clocking one minute 59.85 seconds.
This will be the four-year-old’s first race against Romantic Warrior, who has the chance to become the first three-time FWD QEII Cup winner after his triumphs in 2022 and 2023.
“It’s a really strong race. The international runners come in with good form and we have Romantic Warrior – he’s pretty hard to beat wherever he goes,” Purton said.
“Although, we don’t know how the track is going to be. That’s a question mark that we can’t answer until we get to race day with the weather (rain) that’s around this week.”
Straight Arron, Happy Together, Five G Patch, Nimble Nimbus, Sword Point, Hishi Iguazu, Prognosis, North Bridge and Dubai Honour also feature in the FWD QEII Cup.
