Todd's Eminent set for QEII rumble at Sha Tin - without the 'burned' ear muffs

Of all the 30 horses primed for Sunday's three Group 1 races on FWD Champions Day in Hong Kong, none has a more intriguing back story than Eminent, the Derby fourth of 2017, who continued his preparation for the QEII Cup on Thursday long before the sun rose over Sha Tin racecourse.

Technically, the Frankel five-year-old entire is the sole British, and European, representative in a trio of races collectively worth the equivalent of £5.86 million.

Yet following his private sale out of Martyn Meade's yard last autumn, he nowadays has greater connection with Ireland, through joint-owner Hubie de Burgh, and New Zealand, through fellow owner Sir Peter Vela, trainer Sir Mark Todd and big-race jockey James McDonald.

For good measure, he arrived in Hong Kong last Sunday from Australia, where he has raced twice in the last two months under the name He's Eminent.

The GB designation laid down by the Hong Kong Jockey Club derives from the fact that Todd, with Eminent the only racehorse to his name, could not fulfil Australian racing conditions and is licensed by the BHA, but de Burgh admitted: "He's part-Irish, part-Kiwi – anywhere, in fact, than British, although Britain will probably claim him if he wins."

The connection with Australia explains Eminent's early-morning work schedule. Quarantine restrictions associated with the HKJC's satellite facility at Conghua on the Chinese mainland, which kept Australian-trained horses away for more than a year, have been lifted, but runners from Australia still have to go out on the Sha Tin turf track at 3.40am and be back in their stables by 6am.

"It's been great fun getting up at 2.30am this week to go to work," Todd said on Thursday, with more than a hint of a wry smile. "But Eminent doesn't seem to mind and he's coped with everything. He's eaten and drunk well since he arrived, and I was very pleased with the way he worked this morning."

Todd, who has trained two Group 1 winners in his native country, also remains slightly surprised how he comes to be in the position of preparing for the QEII Cup with a horse who was originally destined for stud in New Zealand.

He explained: "He went so well when he came to me in England at the beginning of October that Sir Peter and Hubie decided to give him a couple of Group 1 races in Australia.

“He ran an excellent second in the Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill on soft ground that didn't suit him, then we decided to try him in ear muffs to get him to relax against Winx at Randwick and it backfired. He ambled out of the stalls and was at the back of the field throughout, so we've had a ceremonial burning of the ear muffs."

Todd confirmed that if Eminent, whose form for Meade tailed off after he ran third in the 2017 Irish Champion Stakes, runs well on Sunday, he will return to Britain.

"All being well he'll have a break and then go for the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, or maybe back to a mile," he said.

Meanwhile, to add another layer of colour to the Hong Kong venture, Todd has a more pressing personal engagement. New Zealand's most successful Olympian, with seven Games and two individual eventing gold medals to his name, leaves straight after racing to compete in the Badminton horse trials, which start on Wednesday and where he will be attempting his fifth success, on Sir Peter Vela's NZB Campino.

"We're probably the oldest combination in the competition," said Todd. "I'm 63 and he's 17, but one thing's for certain, the horse will be better prepared than I will."

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