Moyglare HKIR Interest Runs Deep

The late Walter Haefner would love this.

The founding father of Moyglare Stud, whose daughter Eva now runs the show, would enjoy seeing the stud's homebred 'TDN Rising Star' Free Eagle (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) take his place in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile. Perhaps even more than that, he would relish the opportunity of seeing Free Eagle run against a horse like Designs on Rome (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), the defending Cup winner, bred by the Haefner family, sold on the cheap and exported to Hong Kong where he has achieved super-stardom. Additionally, the stud bred Rich Tapestry (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), the American Grade I winner who is set to contest the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint.

Free Eagle is the latest in a long list of horses owned or bred or raced by Moyglare to take their show overseas. Eva Haefner is happy to perpetuate the tradition begun by her late father, who raced the likes of 1990 GI Belmont S. upsetter Go and Go (Ire) and Media Puzzle (Theatrical {Ire}), victorious in the 2002 G1 Melbourne Cup. Moyglare Stud is also part of the fabric of the Hong Kong International Races, as their homebred Additional Risk (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}) was trained by Dermot Weld to win the inaugural running of the 1400-meter Hong Kong International Bowl–the precursor of the Hong Kong Mile–in 1991.

“It's great to be in Hong Kong, this is really what it's for,” commented Moyglare's Fiona Craig. “I'm very sorry Eva is not here, but she was tied up with business.”

Eva Haefner is very much cut from the same cloth as her father, Craig explained.

“They were very close and she's following on from him,” she explained. “[Eva's] father was a real internationalist. He was one of the first ones. He sent mares to America long before most people did, and a lot of people don't know that. He sent mares over to go to Sea-Bird and Ribot at the end of the 1960s and he loved international racing. That was the reason for horses running in places like Australia and America and even Hong Kong.”

The current flagship horse for Moyglare, Free Eagle will take plenty of beating. So impressive in winning the G1 Prince of Wales's S. at Royal Ascot in June first off an eight-month layoff (video), he squared off next with Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) in a highly controversial running of the G1 Irish Champion S. around Leopardstown. Nearly knocked over by the G1 Investec Derby winner 150 yards from the line (video), Free Eagle was third, leaving connections to lament what may have been.

“I'm not sure what anybody could say about that. It was very unfortunate,” Craig recounted. “We'll never know win, lose or draw. One thing we know about that horse is he wouldn't have gone down without a fight. If you were going to be beat, it would have been lovely to be beat a short head or a neck. The moment I saw it, I started screaming at the TV monitor, 'Be second, be second.' But it totally stopped him in his stride and I think talking to [jockey Pat Smullen] afterwards, he said it could have been much worse, because they almost clipped heels. It felt for us that we were rather dismissed afterwards, but that's how it goes. Frustrating.”

It was another quite luckless run for Free Eagle when sixth behind his Irish Champion conqueror in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Oct. 4 (video) and when the decision was taken to make the trip to Hong Kong, it was always going to be the Cup and not the 2400-meter Vase.

“It's impossible to judge anything off the Arc, because it was such an oddly run race,” submitted Craig. “We had another barging match. I'm not quite convinced he stays a mile and a half and, in against true mile-and-a-half horses, that trip out here could be tough. It really came down to 'do we experiment again or not or do we go with something where we're fairly confident?' Eva is very much involved in [these decisions] and that was very much her feeling. She was more confident about the horse at a mile and a quarter, which I think we all are.”

But while Free Eagle will carry the Moyglare black-and-white in the Cup, the team will have a rooting interest in defending Cup hero Designs on Rome.

“He was a big, tall, leggy yearling and we put him through the Goffs sale, nobody bid on him in the ring,” Craig said. “Two parties came along afterwards, one of which was Pat Flynn, and we got €10,500 for him and off he went. I think probably if we'd kept him, I'm not sure he would have been a 2-year-old and besides, the mare kept throwing these big, backwards horses. It shows you that you just don't know. I don't think Pat ever bought him thinking that he'd turn into something and the rest is history. Hats off to the team out here. John Moore has done a fantastic job and Joao Moreira rides him like a dream. When this horse starts coming, he starts coming. He's going to be no slouch in this race.”

Craig and the Moyglare braintrust are taking very little for granted Sunday afternoon.

“The horse hasn't run since October, he's come a long, long way across the world,” she offered. “Not to mention all the other horses like Military Attack (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}). I think it's a very competitive race. Sure, we're up there on ratings, but I don't know if horses actually know what their ratings are. He's in good order, but he's going to have to run the race of his life. If he runs the race of his life, he has the ability to win it. Are we confident? I wouldn't say we're confident, no. I'd say we're hopeful.”

Free Eagle retires to the Irish National Stud for 2016, and Craig believes he's got a big chance to be a success.

“He's a lovely horse. He's always had great quality,” Craig opined. “He has a very nicely balanced pedigree, he's got a lot of American speed on the bottom line, because this traces back to Talking Picture, who Mr. Haefner bought 30 years ago.

She continued, “It's an interesting side to bring into the Irish breeding. He's a beautiful horse to look at, he's an absolute gentleman. He's also got a very good turn of foot. That first day at Leopardstown [a 5 1/2-length victory Aug. 15, 2013], he really amazed us all. We went in that day fairly confident he's win, but I'm not sure any of us actually realized he was going to win like a star. So many people have come up after and said, 'I want to breed to that horse, he's got a bit of brilliance.' We've got a wonderful syndicate, he'll get very good mares and we'll do what we can to make him a stallion. Because he deserves to be.”

But first things first, as Free Eagle will look to go out on top Sunday afternoon. And perhaps Designs on Rome second?

“A winner in our colors would be fantastic. That would be the main aim, but it would be wonderful to see a Moyglare breeding exacta,” Craig admitted. “To be honest, Mr. Haefner would get the biggest kick out of that. He was, in his heart, a breeder. He enjoyed racing, but his main focus was producing a racehorse. Eva is also like that, but she loves the racing. So to be honest, she's doing both levels of that. God willing, both horses at the front of the field nearing the end, that's all we can hope for.”