Annabel Neasham will saddle up Australia’s first Hong Kong International Races participant since 2018, when Laws Of Indices tackles the Hong Kong Mile on Sunday.
The son of Power will take on Hong Kong’s champion Golden Sixty in the HK$30 million event at Group 1 level.
It’s the first time an Australian-trained horse has attended HKIR since the Chris Waller-trained Comin’ Through in 2018, where he finished 12th behind Beauty Generation in this very race.
Neasham says the entire has settled in nicely, with James McDonald quielty confident he can give things a shake on Sunday.
“He travelled really well, he’s obviously well-travelled anyway so there was no real worry with that, but it was good to see him settle in well,” she said,
“His work on Tuesday was on good, I got the tick from James McDonald. I think he (McDonald) really does feel like he’s a sneaky chance in the race.
“We know it’ll be no easy task to beat Golden Sixty, but it’s going to be a great race”
The four-year-old has only had the four runs during his spring preparation in Australia and was only narrowly beaten in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) in October.
He finished just 1.3 lengths behind Group 1 winner Ellsberg in his most recent outing in the Five DIamonds, and now drops back to the 1600m journey for Sunday’s feature.
Laws Of Indices gets the blinkers reapplied for Sunday’s assignment, with Neasham hoping the world’s best jockey James McDonald can do the job once again.
“He just always seems to be dealt with bad barriers, or often does, but his run in the Toorak was terrific,” she said.
“He rattled home very quickly and just missed. It’s frustrating that he’s not a Group 1 winner, but I thought his run in the Cox Plate had plenty of merit to it.
“It was his first time up to 2000m, he hadn’t really tried at the mile too many times either, then he ran pretty well in the Five Diamonds.
“I think the mile is his best trip, I think the best we’ve seen of him was in the Toorak and probably going back 12 months ago to the Golden Eagle over 1500m. I think around the mile mark is his go, blinkers go back on and ‘J-Mac’ on.
“It’s great to have a rider that knows him and we’ve got a good relationship with James, and recently crowned best jockey in the world. It’s great to have him on.”
Neasham also mentioned this could be the start of a regular visit for the Brit, hinting that she could be back in the future with other runners, namely stable star Zaaki.
Zaaki has already raced during the HKIR carnival, finishing 4-1/4 lengths behind Admire Mars in the 2019 edition of the Hong Kong Mile when trained by Sir Michael Stout.
The seven-time Group 1 winning trainer knows Zaaki isn’t getting any younger, but still has the ability to be competitive in Hong Kong.
“I’d love to bring him, I’ve always wanted to travel him somewhere,” Neasham said.
“He’s not getting any younger, but he’s still in great form.
“But certainly, we’ll get his inoculation’s done so he’s got the option of coming out here if we want to.
“It’s certainly not a test run as such as we’re here to win with Laws Of Indices, but I haven’t even been here 24 hours and I’m already loving it.
“Now that the covid saga is slowly disappearing, we would love to bring more horses here and who knows, you might see Zaaki next year.”
Laws Of Indices is currently a $34 chance for Sunday’s Hong Kong Mile.