The key questions as Highland Reel bids to star on final start

6.00 Sha Tin (Sunday)
Longines Hong Kong Vase | 1m4f | 3yo+ | ATR/RUK

Key questions

Can Highland Reel bow out on a high?

If there is one horse you can set your watch by it is the teak-tough globetrotter Highland Reel. And on Sunday it will be well worth setting your alarm to watch him compete for the final time in his record-breaking career.

No horse in Europe has ever earned more prize-money than Highland Reel. There have undoubtedly been more talented horses, but few have possessed such a ferocious appetite for battle and the iron constitution that has allowed trainer Aidan O'Brien to map out such an ambitious campaign across the globe.

Highland Reel already has a Hong Kong Vase to his name – one of six top-level victories – and now he spearheads O'Brien's squad of five at Sha Tin, the largest team the trainer has sent to the meeting, as he bids to regain a crown that was relinquished in agonising fashion last year.

O'Brien, who has enjoyed a phenomenal 2017, breaking the record for the number of top-level wins in a year, said: "Highland Reel has been an incredible horse for us. He has so many qualities. He enjoys what he does, he has shown himself to be a great traveller, he's clean-winded and a joy to have trained. He'll be hard to replace."

Highland Reel arrives on the back of a short-priced defeat in the Breeders' Cup Turf, where he finished a close-up third behind the reopposing Talismanic but was by no means disgraced.

O'Brien added: "He's not done a great deal since his last run in the Breeders' Cup, but his lad Davy [Bergin] is very happy with him right now. It was probably not ideal that there were only two weeks between his run at Ascot on ground that didn't suit and the Breeders' Cup, but that's the way it fell, and he needed to run at Ascot."

Rider Ryan Moore said: "The Vase is always a hard race to win, and obviously Talismanic is in there along with a couple of Japanese horses and a couple of locals aren’t too bad. Hopefully he will do what he usually does – give his all – and it would be nice for him to go out with a win."

Will Talismanic's relaxed nature help him confirm Breeders' Cup form?

Horses don't come much flashier than Talismanic, whose huge white blaze quickly made him a favourite at trainer Andre Fabre's yard. But he clearly has the talent to go along with his looks and made his top-level breakthrough in the Breeders' Cup, taking another step forward in what has been a season of steady progress.

Lisa-Jane Graffard, representing owners Godolphin, said: "Andre Fabre calls him Charismatic Talismanic because he's got such a great attitude and outlook. He's turned into the ideal older horse to travel around the world.

"His performances this year have been very good and he's coming off a Grade 1 win.

"He's a great traveller, he's very relaxed and the journey hasn't taken much out of him. He appears to be very well."

Outside chance of a local victory?

The best chance of a local victory, according to the market, is provided by Gold Mount, who was formerly called Primitivo and won the King George V Stakes for Alan King at Royal Ascot on his final start in Britain, beating the reopposing Danehill Kodiac into fifth place.

Zac Purton, riding on the crest of a wave following his International Jockeys' Championship victory on Wednesday, said of Gold Mount: "He's been a quirky horse since he's been in Hong Kong. He's not big but was very impressive on his first start here and then his form tapered off a little bit. I think he was struggling to acclimatise.

"He had a break and then came back and won first time up over 1,800m [nine furlongs] with a big weight in class 2 company, and it's very difficult for horses in Hong Kong to do that. It was a very solid performance. On his next start I got caught behind two horses and the leaders got a break on me. I think he has an outside chance."

More joy for Japan?

Satono Crown swooped fast and late to deny Highland Reel last year, and the greatest threat to O'Brien's popular money-spinner could once again come from Japan in the shape of Kiseki.

Kiseki, the only three-year-old in the line-up, arrives on the back of an impressive victory in the Japanese St Leger, where he justified favouritism to win by two lengths.

His participation appeared in doubt earlier in the week after he was found to have symptoms of ringworm, but he is expected to be given the green light on Saturday.

What they say

Ralph Beckett, trainer of Chemical Charge
He's in good shape, and his weight is fine. We've felt for some time going right-handed on fast ground would be ideal. He's got a good draw [in stall four] and I think he'll run his race but it does look one of the strongest Vases for some time.

Andy Smith, part-owner of Danehill Kodiac
He's not bred to be a stayer but that really seems to be his strength. I know we're outsiders but I won't be surprised if we take home some prize-money.

Glyn Schofield, rider of Max Dynamite
Hopefully the Melbourne Cup form can hold strong again this year. He's obviously a horse with a lot of stamina, a lot of strength, he seems to have travelled over really well. His work on Wednesday morning was pretty sharp, I was pleased to see a really strong turn of speed at the end of his work.

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