Such is the depth of talent that has featured in the Hong Kong Jockey Club's weighing room down the years that the list of visiting riders who have a real following among the Sha Tin and Happy Valley faithful is a short one. Horses ridden by Mick Kinane and Frankie Dettori always carried plenty of dollars when they were in town but, among those international superstars currently active only Ryan Moore can rival the popularity and historic success in Hong Kong of Christophe Soumillon. A ten-time champion of his adopted home in France, Belgian-born Soumillon has won most of Hong Kong's top races and can reflect on associations with some of the best horses to have raced there in the last quarter of a century, 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. Christophe Soumillon and Viva Pataca return to the acclaim of the Sha Tin crowd after the Hong Kong Derby Credit: Getty However, in 2025 that changes and Soumillon's quest for a winning debut in Sunday's HK$28 million feature will come aboard the marquee name among the international visitors. Goliath had already marked himself as a late-maturing four-year-old with plenty of promise before his breakout performance in last year's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, the first time Soumillon had got the call from trainer Francis Graffard and the gelding's owner/breeder, Philip von Ullmann. Reflecting on that easy two-and-a-quarter length defeat of Bluestocking – with much of Europe's middle-distance elite strung out like washing behind the pair – Soumillon admits that, although victory wasn't a surprise, the nature of Goliath's dominance was beyond expectations. "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 says. "Heading to Ascot I thought we’d be in the first three but to beat so many good horses was never going to be easy. Everything went perfectly because they went a good gallop right from the start and he was never overracing. Goliath powers clear of Bluestocking and Auguste Rodin in the King George Credit: Edward Whitaker "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 retrospect, the searching test set by Hans Andersen and Luxembourg in the service of stablemate Auguste Rodin provided just what Graffard had been in search of by travelling Goliath in the first place, and Soumillon was able to take full advantage. "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 says. "I knew at the time that we had been followed home by a good filly, although of course I could never have known that Bluestocking would win the Arc a few months later. "Turning in, I knew we’d gone a good pace and that he would be able to accelerate off that pace. Francis had told me that if we got that set-up and he relaxed nicely, I would really see something when I asked him to pick up. "So I was expecting him to deliver, although maybe not quite in that style." Goliath with his new co-owner John Stewart (fourth from the left) and owner/breeder Philip Baron von Ullmann (right) Credit: Racing Post/Burton By the time Goliath was ready for his autumn campaign, US-based John Stewart had bought a 75 per cent share and made the trip to France to watch his new purchase run in the Prix du Prince d'Orange ahead of his major target. In Soumillon's own words Goliath inflicted a narrow defeat on Hamish "without blowing anyone away" and then it was on to Tokyo, and a daring bid to break a 19-year drought for European runners in the Japan Cup. A likely strong pace over a mile and a half and the long straight looked the ideal scenario for Goliath but, as Soumillon recounts, what looked good on paper did not translate as the son of Adlerflug pulled his way to a disappointing sixth-placed finish behind Do Deuce. "It was a nightmare of a race," says Soumillon with admirable candour. "They kept chopping and changing leader, which almost never happens in Japan. That said, what the winner did was incredible because he was last going down the back and then came wide around the home turn. "It turned into a sprint and my horse had been burning too much gas the whole way. Although we were well drawn, even that turned 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. Do Deuce (red cap) flies home to win the Japan Cup ahead of Goliath (white cap) and Christophe Soumillon Credit: Masakazu Takahashi Soumillon adds: "You get races that go horribly like that, just as you get those that unfold perfectly like in the King George. When a race like the Japan Cup turns into a sprint on good ground it’s hard to match the acceleration of those horses who have shown up well over shorter distances, as was the case with the winner." Graffard and the ownership team quickly identified the FWD QEII Cup and a drop back to a mile and a quarter as the perfect starting point for Goliath's five-year-old campaign and Soumillon retains maximum confidence in him, for all that this will provide a different test. "We know he runs well fresh and for me the key is that he relaxes early in his race. He loves races run at a decent gallop and so his best race by far was in the King George, when they went quick and he never felt out of his comfort zone. "A lot will depend on the draw, which is an important factor over 2,000 metres at Sha Tin. On paper Goliath has the highest rating and logically he’ll be favourite so I’ll ride him like the best horse in the race." With Goliath having already handled the travelling to Japan well, Soumillon has few worries on that score, although he will be especially attentive to keeping his mount calm in the final moments before the start. He says: "We’ll try to get away to the best possible start and I just hope he doesn’t become upset beforehand, which was another factor in Japan. The stands erupted in sound when the starter climbed his rostrum and the horse took fright a little. Goliath Goes through his paces on the Sha Tin training track on Wednesday Credit: 0rlando Foo "On the really big days in Hong Kong like the Cup and the Derby, the crowd can also be pretty noisy when they’re down behind the stalls. I hope Goliath can remain relatively calm in those moments so he then breaks as well as he can. "In his favour he is effective going right-handed and, while I haven’t studied the weather forecast for the week, if there was a little bit of rain around that wouldn’t harm his chances. He’s a pretty mature horse and I think the trip to Japan will have done him a lot of good. "He’s looked quite calm during morning training in Hong Kong and the team Francis has sent have experience travelling with him and I’m confident he’ll have been extremely well prepared." At the age of 43 Soumillon can look back on a career littered with success in the biggest races around the world, with his appetite for such prizes far from sated. "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 says. "Now I am not under contract I’m relatively free to travel and to try to add a few of those missing titles. "I had been down to ride Rulership in the 2012 QEII Cup but commitments in France meant I missed out and Umberto Rispoli won in Hong Kong on him." Soumillon made up for missing out on that Japanese-trained winner when guiding Admire Mars to victory in the 2019 Hong Kong Mile. Christophe Soumillon, trainer John Moore and owner Stanley Ho Hung Sun after the victory of Viva Pataca in the 2006 Hong Kong Derby Credit: Getty But it is two much earlier days in the sun which left the biggest mark on him, though for different reasons. Soumillon recalls: "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 pleased for Good Ba Ba, and to be part of the horse winning three Hong Kong Miles was something historic. But at the same time I had slightly mixed feelings because unfortunately my good friend Olivier Doleuze had ridden him up until that point, and then the owner and trainer chose to replace him." Victory aboard Goliath would add the the Sha Tin treasure trove to the Soumillon memory vault, and this time nobody would be taken by surprise. Now read these: Goliath ready to take his place among giants of the global stage on Hong Kong's Champions Day Get ready to enjoy a feast for the senses in Hong Kong on Champions Day Available to new subscribers purchasing Members' Club Ultimate using code ED256 through the Racing Post website. First three payments will be charged at £37.49, subscription renews at full monthly price thereafter. To cancel please contact us at least seven days before subscription is due to renew.