French horse Flintshire has finally enjoyed his big day in the sun by winning the Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin.
The Andre Fabre-trained Flintshire was runner-up in both the Arc and the Breeders’ Cup Turf this year.
Three-time Melbourne Cup runner-up Red Cadeaux finished sixth of the 11 runners in the Vase (2400m).
Flintshire’s jockey Maxime Guyon engineered a decisive move inside the final 200 metres to account for Willie Cazals by a half-length with Kayah third.
“It was really important for us to win this race,” Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Flintshire’s owner, Khalid Abdullah, said.
“It was absolutely thrilling because we’ve had a couple of near misses before.
“But this horse has a very good turn of foot, combined with his stamina.
“He stays in training and we will map out an international campaign next year.
“We will certainly look at Dubai in March.”
Trainer Ed Dunlop is already looking to the future with renowned traveller Red Cadeaux.
“We’ll continue running overseas and while there are some races I like the look of in Australia, it could be that we try him on dirt,” he said.
“There is the Gold Cup over two miles in Dubai to consider.”
