Designs takes G1 Hong Kong Cup for Holy Roman

Trainer John Moore made no secret of his hopes for Designs On Rome (4g Holy Roman Emperor-Summer Trysting, by Alleged) in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday and the son of Holy Roman Emperor did not disappoint.

Jockey Joao Moreira battled hard throughout the race, getting up on the line to beat old rival Military Attack on the line.

Moreira was hard at work on Designs On Rome from the halfway mark and said: ”That's the sort of horse he is. I learned a lot about him in my two previous rides on him. You've got to get going early with him but you know he'll keep responding and he did that today.

"He's such a good horse. I was able to turn for home not too far off the leaders, and the leaders had gone quite hard. I just had to challenge the horses in front of me, who were hard to get past, but he's proven himself such a good horse and he's got the job done. He does have such a great turn of foot. Military Attack was fighting towards the line but we got there."

Designs On Rome has now had four starts over the 2,000m course at Sha Tin for wins in the Cup, the Derby and in the G1 QEII Cup and while he'll continue to race in Hong Kong, Moore hopes that he will be campaigning in Dubai in 2015, with the G1 Sheema Classic a possible target.

"We had set him for this," Moore said, "And I said all week I was confident he would peak for this race. Joao (Moreira) had him stoked up at the right time and he was very tough. It was an excellent win and I'd be keen to campaign him overseas.”

Designs On Rome was bred by Moyglare Stud in Ireland, where he was trained by Pat Flynn to finish second in the G1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes.