Romanised set for Hong Kong despite Dundalk disappointment

The dual-Group 1 winner Romanised remains on target to finish his racing career in Hong Kong next month.

Ken Condon’s 2018 Irish 2,000 Guineas hero could finish only third at odds-on at Dundalk on Monday behind Saltonstall, a performance that initially left his trainer deflated.

However after losing ground to his rivals with a slow start, Romanised travelled well under jockey Billy Lee to lead in the straight before fading in the final furlong.

“It was initially a little bit disappointing but digesting things it wasn’t as straightforward as the result might suggest.

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“It was an inefficient run the way the race went. I spoke to Mark Bird, the handicapper, and he rated him 112 in the race, not making allowances for five lengths lost at the start.

“A friend of mine also timed him from when he jumped the gates and he actually ran point six of a second quicker than the winner.

“Billy (Lee) was delighted with the way he travelled through the race and he had a blow in the last hundred yards. You can see him switching leads as well when he was getting tired late on.

“He possibly got to the front a little bit soon too. So taking into account that he blew the start, you can estimate he’s run to 115 which as a prep you’d be happy with.

“So I think there’s a very good chance he will go (to Hong Kong). We just want to see how he is and how he trains over the next week.

“But right now I think he’s more likely than unlikely to go. The wheels are in motion to go anyway,” Condon said on Tuesday.

The Curragh trainer is pointing Romanised, whose other top-flight success came in last year’s Prix Jacques Le Marois, at the Mile on Sha Tin’s big international carnival on December 13th.

Romanised is owned by the Singaporean businessman Robert Ng and is set to start a stud career in 2021.

Condon has classic hopes for next year with his bargain-buy filly Miss Amulet.

The €7,500 yearling purchase was third at the Breeders Cup earlier this month in her first attempt at a mile, encouraging ambitions to look at keeping her at the distance in next year’s French 1,000 Guineas.

Miss Amulet had previous finished runner up in the Cheveley Park Stakes under Ryan Moore and had won the Lowther Stakes at York in August.

“I was delighted with the run (at Keeneland.) She’s had a great first season and she’s on a well deserved break now.

“The plan is a mile around the bend at Longchamp where hopefully she can lie up tactically. There’s always a big field there but it you have tactical pace it allows you be in the first five or six.

“It’s also a turning mile rather than the stiff mile at the other two places (Newmarket and the Curragh) so it looks the place for her.

“That was Ryan Moore’s observation too after he rode her in the Cheveley Park. He was quite taken with her before the Breeders Cup and suggested she’s a filly for a classic.

“You couldn’t say she didn’t stay the other day albeit on a tight track. She ran well to the line,” Condon said.