'Softer ground would play to his game' - Kinross owner hoping for rain for his Group 1 Royal Ascot favourite

Owner Marc Chan is hoping for easy underfoot conditions for Kinross when the seven-year-old lines up in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in two weeks’ time.

Trained by Ralph Beckett, Kinross has shown top-class form on ground ranging from good to firm to very soft, including securing Group 1 wins in the Prix de la Foret and British Champions Sprint over the same course and distance as the Jubilee.

Kinross, who heads the market for the £1 million contest at Royal Ascot this month, came within a neck of winning the British Champions Sprint for a second time on soft ground last October, and Chan believes softer conditions play to his horse’s strengths at the track.

He said: “Softer ground would play to his game as it would slow down the overall tempo and put more emphasis on endurance and stamina, rather than just pure speed. He’s not exactly a six-furlong speed horse, but maybe six and a half or seven is his best distance.

“If the ground is quick at Ascot it might not suit Kinross as well as it is not his specialist distance, but on the softer ground then I can understand why he is stronger in the betting. He usually needs one race to get to his peak, but you never know and perhaps being a more mature horse he’s changed.”

Marc Chan: hoping for softer ground at Ascot for KinrossCredit: Laura Green

Chan, a Hong Kong-based technology and telecoms entrepreneur with interests in property and private equity, has enjoyed a golden period with his horses in Britain, racing the likes of Angel Bleu, as well as Lezoo and Prosperous Voyage in partnership to secure Group 1 victories before their sale last December.

This week, Nick Smith, Ascot’s director of racing and public affairs, highlighted the challenges British racing was having in attracting horses from the likes of Hong Kong and Japan to the royal meeting – and other fixtures – after no high-profile horses from the nations were entered, and Chan agreed that British racing was in a challenging position.

The Racing Post Royal Ascot Guide 2024

Chan said: “The Australian horses seldom travel now, not just to Britain but to France and even the Middle East because they have the prizes at home. The Australian’s have a very high respect for Ascot, I know, and it's the same for other countries where connections know how hard it is to win there.

“Prize-money is an issue and there are great distances they have to come over to race at Ascot. It is also the case that the racetrack doesn’t suit some of them so well going up the slope where they can race on flatter courses in the Middle East and America.

“If you have a very good horse in Hong Kong it's difficult. You may have some owners who have a pipe dream of going regardless of the prize-money, but even they are beginning to realise that you have to be really good to win at Ascot and you are never going to get a walkover.

“Do you, even if you have a very good horse, want to pay for the trip and travel all that way for the prize-money is only so much? There are other options, why not make a shorter trip to the Middle East or Japan? The trip is shorter, it’s easier to manage, the courses are flat and the money is a lot better – it just makes sense.”

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