[4] Able Friend is an unusually large racehorse, with a peak racing weight of 1315 pounds (596 kg),[5] and is nicknamed "Elephant" by his stable staff.
[8] In January 2013 he was sent to race in Hong Kong where he was trained by John Moore and owned by Dr & Mrs Cornel Li Fook Kwan.
On his Hong Kong debut he carried 125 pounds and defeated thirteen opponents in a 1200-metre handicap race at Sha Tin on 8 June.
He was then dropped in class and distance in April for the Group 2 Chairman's Trophy in which the Mauritian jockey Karis Teetan deputised for the suspended Moreira.
On his final appearance of the Hong Kong season Able Friend started 7/10 favourite for the Champions Mile ahead of a field which included California Memory, Gold-Fun, Dan Excel and Gordon Lord Byron.
[11] Able Friend was dropped back to sprint distances for his seasonal debut as his preparation race, at which he finished fourth to Aerovelocity when carrying 133 pounds in the 1200 metre handicap on 26 October.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club's report on the race likened Able Friend's dismissal of his opponents as resembling "a lion swatting flies".
"[13] On 25 January Able Friend started 1/4 favourite for the Stewards' Cup against a field which included Gold-Fun, Ambitious Dragon, Blazing Speed and Glorious Days.
[6] In March, Able Friend added a victory in the 1400 metre Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup despite being boxed in on the rail until the closing stages.
In that race, he had to face the challenge of the Japanese contingent Maurice, who won the Yasuda Kinen and the Mile Championship, thus generally regarded as the best miler in Japan of the generation.
"He went into the Hong Kong Mile with a bruised sole, we kept him in minor work and the problem didn't resolve itself, " his trainer John Moore said, when he announced that his horse was sidelined for the rest of the season.
Following his win in the Hong Kong Mile, the Racing Post rated Able Friend the fifth-best racehorse in the world, equal with Treve and behind only Just A Way, Australia, Shared Belief and Kingman.