Horses travel far and wide to arrive at Sha Tin for Hong Kong International Races

Highland Reel gallops on the course proper during a trackwork session at Sha Tin Racecourse. Vince Caligiuri / Getty Images

There are 24 Group 1 winners from around the world competing for Dh39.2 million in prize money across the four Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Horses from nine countries have amassed in the Special Administrative Region but rarely, if ever, can a race have attracted horses with more air miles than the Hong Kong Vase.

The exploits of Highland Reel and Big Orange have been well documented for the past 12 months and although Highland Reel’s career exploits overshadow his rival’s, Big Orange has covered more ground this year than the hot favourite.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club estimated this week that Highland Reel has clocked up over 123,000 kilometres in foreign travel during his career. In a whirlwind 16 months, Aidan O’Brien’s global ambassador has raced in America twice, Hong Kong twice, Australia, Dubai, England and France. His hectic schedule has been eclipsed in the past 13 months, however, by Big Orange.

More from Hong Kong International Races:

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• Hong Kong Vase: Could hold contrasting fortunes for Highland Reel and Big Orange after draw

• Gun Pit: Hopes to break losing streak at Hong Kong International Races

Michael Bell’s eccentric-looking horse has twice raced in the Melbourne Cup in that time, and also ran a huge race to finish second in the Dubai Gold Cup in March. He then contested a few starts in England that included victory in the Goodwood Cup but was then forced in to an extended stay down under.

Due to UAE emergency transit laws he ran twice in Australia and has kicked on to Hong Kong on his way back to Britain. That is around 88,000 kilometres and the lure of Meydan beckons in March.

But that is not all. Japanese mare Nuovo Record has been sunning herself in California for the past month, having finished a lacklustre 12th at the Breeders’ Cup before winning a minor Group 3 by the sea in Del Mar. The five-year-old also returned to Hong Kong in April without success after finishing second to A Shin Hikari in the Cup 12 months ago.

Nuovo Record will break from one in from the widest draw occupied by compatriot Smart Layer, who is joined in the race by Satono Crown who is also from the Japan. Horses from further afield include Quechua, who hails from Dubai Golden Shaheen-winning handler Patrick Shaw’s Singapore yard, and Benzini, who has shipped in from New Zealand. Three French horses have travelled from Chantilly to be there in Silverwave, Garlingari, and One Foot In Heaven.

And there’s the rub. It is easy to forget how hard it is to travel a 500 kilogram animal across the world. Elite thoroughbred racehorses have been known to drop 40kgs in 30 hours of transit and on arrival One Foot in Heaven was found to have blood abnormalities and spent two days in a quarantine barn.

For clarification, it is just over 9,500kms from Chantilly to Sha Tin, which pales in to comparison to how far Pure Sensation, the only American horse to have made the journey, has come. Pure Sensation was set to take on Japanese monsters Big Arthur and Red Falx in the Sprint but that attempt looks unlikely after he was found to be lame this week.

There is plenty to like about Sunday’s extravaganza. Japanese superstars Maurice versus A Shin Hikari in the Cup. Hong Kong versus the rest in the Sprint. The return to the top table of the once mighty Able Friend in the Mile. Two Dubai World Cup-winning riders in Silvestre De Sousa and Mirco Demuro. It is all there. Just do not forget how hard it is to put it all on.

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