Boniface Ho’s talented three-year-old Glittering Legend will continue his career in Hong Kong with David Eustace after his recent third in the G3 Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Glittering Legend recorded a Listed win on the all-weather over a mile at Newcastle in April before staying on for third behind Trinity College over 2000m in the Hampton Court Stakes, a race that has long been a source of potential Hong Kong Derby candidates.
The son of Too Darn Hot will join the yard of high-flying first-season trainer, Eustace, who provided Ho with a winner on the Sha Tin dirt on Saturday courtesy of Fashion Legend.
Speaking to Idol Horse during the 11-race card, Eustace said he will turn his focus to preparing Glittering Legend for the Hong Kong Derby for the owner during the 2025-26 campaign.
“I’m delighted to have the support from Bon,” Eustace said. “Glittering Legend is going into quarantine and hopefully he acclimatises well. We’ll target the four-year-old series with him.”
While Ho’s red and white silks have been a familiar fixture at racecourses in Britain, Australia and Hong Kong, the prominent owner is yet to taste success in any of the three legs of Hong Kong’s four-year-old series, which consists of the Classic Mile, Classic Cup over 1,800m and finishes with the city’s most prestigious race, the Hong Kong Derby.
Eustace, who was trackside when his brother, Harry, celebrated the first of two Group 1 wins at Royal Ascot last week, hopes his latest acquisition might be able to take another step forward after a promising start to his career with trainer James Fanshawe.
“He’s done absolutely nothing wrong so far and he looks a really nice horse so hopefully he can keep progressing,” Eustace added. “I’ve had a chat with James and he spoke very highly of him.”
Glittering Legend collected two wins over a mile from four starts as a juvenile and immediately hit the ground running as a three-year-old, knuckling down in the closing stages under Daniel Muscutt to return to the winner’s enclosure at Kempton and Newcastle in the Burradon Stakes.
His half-brother, Megallan, won the same race at Newcastle in 2021 before recording a Group 3 win over a mile, while Glittering Legend’s dam, Eastern Belle, is a half-sister to the superstar Golden Horn.
The last Hong Kong Derby winner to emerge from the Hampton Court Stakes was Collection in 2009-10, while Saturday’s winner S J Tourbillon is among those exported from Britain to Hong Kong after contesting the three-year-old feature. Also in that group are Group 1 winners Russian Emperor and Exultant. ∎
