The list of visiting riders that have a genuine following among the Sha Tin and Happy Valley faithful is quite small due to the amount of talent that has been highlighted in the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s weighing room throughout the years. Mick Kinane and Frankie Dettori’s horses were usually loaded with cash when they were in town, but only Ryan Moore can match Christophe Soumillon’s fame and record-breaking success in Hong Kong among the current crop of international superstars. Belgian-born Soumillon, a ten-time champion of his adopted country of France, has won the majority of Hong Kong’s major races and can recall connections to some of the greatest horses to have competed there in the past 25 years, including Viva Pataca and Goood Ba Ba. The FWD QEII Cup does not yet feature on Soumillon’s glittering resumé, largely because the race often clashes with major dates in Europe.
That will change in 2025, though, and Soumillon’s attempt to make a successful debut in Sunday’s HK$28 million movie will follow the well-known figure among foreign tourists. Before his spectacular showing in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot last year, Goliath had already established himself as a late-maturing four-year-old with a lot of promise. This was the first time Soumillon had received a call from trainer Francis Graffard and the gelding’s owner/breeder, Philip von Ullmann. Soumillon acknowledges that while the triumph wasn’t unexpected, the extent of Goliath’s dominance was unexpected as the duo easily defeated Bluestocking by two and a quarter lengths, with a large portion of Europe’s middle-distance best strung out like washing behind them.
“I’d loved the horse ever since he won easily at Longchamp early in the season and after that he had been undone a couple of times by a lack of pace, especially in the Grand Prix de Chantilly when he pulled quite hard and didn’t really get to show his true self,” Soumillon explains. “I assumed we would be among the top three heading into Ascot, but defeating so many talented horses was never going to be simple. They started off with a nice gallop, and he was never overracing, so everything went flawlessly.
“He picked up the pace gradually and we went past the leaders very easily, and when I really went for him he was just dazzling.” In hindsight, Soumillon was able to fully benefit from the searching test that Hans Andersen and Luxembourg had established in the service of stablemate Auguste Rodin, which gave Graffard exactly what he had been looking for by traveling Goliath in the first place. “It’s always impressive to be travelling so well in behind the pacesetters and then to pass them without really asking for an effort,” he continues. “At the time, I was aware that a good filly had followed us home, but I obviously had no idea that Bluestocking would go on to win the Arc a few months later.
“As I turned in, I was certain that we had reached a decent speed and that he could pick it up. Francis had assured me that when I asked him to pick up, I would actually see something if we had that arrangement and he was at ease. I therefore anticipated that he would deliver, but perhaps not in that manner. John Stewart, who is located in the United States, purchased a seventy-five percent stake in Goliath by the time he was prepared for his autumn campaign. He traveled to France to witness his new acquisition run in the Prix du Prince d’Orange before his main aim. According to Soumillon, Goliath defeated Hamish “without blowing anyone away” before moving on to Tokyo, and a daring bid to break a 19-year drought for European runners in the Japan Cup.
Goliath appeared to be in the best position due to an anticipated strong pace over a mile and a half and the long straight, but as Soumillon relates, this did not work out as the son of Adlerflug pushed himself to a dismal sixth-place finish behind Do Deuce. According to Soumillon, “It was a nightmare of a race,” with commendable candor. “They repeatedly replaced and chopped the leader, which is practically unheard of in Japan. Nevertheless, the winner’s performance was amazing since he was last going down the back and then missed the home turn. My horse was using too much gas the entire time, and it ended up turning into a sprint. Even though we had a strong attraction, that worked against me because we didn’t see much daylight in the straight, while he had just been too free before that to really pick up at the finish.
“Just as you have races that unfold flawlessly, like in the King George, you also have races that go horribly like that,” Soumillon continues. It’s challenging to match the acceleration of horses that have performed well at shorter distances, like the winner, when a race like the Japan Cup develops into a sprint on decent ground. The FWD QEII Cup and a drop down to a mile and a quarter were swiftly determined by Graffard and the ownership team to be the ideal starting point for Goliath’s five-year-old campaign, and Soumillon continues to have the utmost faith in him despite the fact that this will provide a different test. The key, in my opinion, is that he unwinds early in his race day since we know he runs good fresh.
Since he like races that are conducted at a respectable clip, the King George was by far his greatest race because it moved quickly and he never felt uncomfortable. “The draw, a crucial element over 2,000 meters at Sha Tin, will determine a lot. I’ll ride Goliath like the best horse in the race because he has the highest rating on paper and is therefore the favorite. Soumillon has few concerns about Goliath’s handling of the journey to Japan, but he will pay close attention to keeping his mount composed in the last moments before the start. He states: “I simply hope that we can get off to the best possible start.
“The audience may be quite raucous when they’re down behind the stalls on the major Hong Kong events, such as the Cup and the Derby. I’m hoping Goliath can maintain some composure throughout those times so he can break as effectively as possible. His ability to go right-handed is advantageous, and even though I haven’t looked at the week’s weather prediction, a little rain wouldn’t hurt his prospects. He is a rather mature horse, and I believe the trip to Japan will have really benefited him. The crew Francis dispatched has expertise traveling with him, and he appeared to be fairly composed throughout morning training in Hong Kong. I’m sure he’ll have been extremely well prepared.”
At 43, Soumillon may reflect on a career filled with victories in the world’s most prestigious races, but his thirst for such rewards has not been satisfied. “I’ve been lucky enough to ride a lot of good horses in Hong Kong and I still want to win more of the top races,” he continues. “Now I am not under contract I’m relatively free to travel and to try to add a few of those missing titles.” Due to obligations in France, I was unable to ride Rulership in the 2012 QEII Cup, and Umberto Rispoli defeated him in Hong Kong. While leading Admire Mars to victory, Soumillon made up for losing out on that Japanese-trained victor in the 2019 Hong Kong Mile.
However, he was most affected by two far earlier days in the sun, albeit for different reasons. Soumillon remembers: “For me winning on Viva Pataca [in 2006] was a really exceptional moment because it was the first Derby I’d ridden in and to win for Stanley Ho, a very important man in Hong Kong and Macau, was a real thrill.” [In 2008] I was thrilled for Good Ba Ba, and to be part of the horse winning three Hong Kong Miles was something historic. However, I also felt conflicted because, regrettably, my good friend Olivier Doleuze had been riding him until that moment, after which the owner and trainer decided to replace him. Triumph on board Goliath would add the the Sha Tin treasure trove to the Soumillon memory vault, and this time nobody would be taken by surprise.
