Tag: Hong Kong

Size Holds Strong Hand For Hong Kong Classic Mile

One of the best trainers in Hong Kong history, John Size is a three-time winner of the Hong Kong Classic Mile, a 1600-metre event that serves as the first of the three legs of the Classics series restricted to 4-year-olds from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The 12-times champion conditioner, who is approaching 1500 career victories, has two bonafide chances to add a fourth Classic Mile Sunday in the form of Helios Express (Aus) (Toronado {Ire}) and Howdeepisyourlove (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}).

Helios Express is the lone member of the nine-horse field rated north of 100, and he has earned it with four wins from his six starts dating back to last June, including a powerful 2 3/4-length victory in a Class 2 over Sunday's distance Jan. 7. That effort has stamped him as the $1.40 (2-5) jolly overnight and Hugh Bowman has the call before beginning a suspension.

“He made the adaption to 1600 (metres) more or less straight away, he seemed to travel not too bad,” the always matter-of-fact Size said of his latest effort. “He was a little bit strong, I guess, but still managed it in a slow-run race and he sprinted well off a slow speed, that's about all we expected from him.

“I don't think he's taken harm from the race. He seems to have coped with that pretty well. His trial was normal and he looks like he's going to run a race again.”

 

 

 

James McDonald is due to partner with Howdeepisyourlove, but suffered a foot injury before Saturday's G3 Widden S. at Rosehill and will be subject to an exam by the HKJC's chief medical officer upon his arrival. The gelding has four wins to his credit, all over the 1200-metre distance and each at Happy Valley, and he'll need to lift here to make his presence felt.

There are 34 stakes races held each season in Hong Kong, and the Classic Mile is the only one to have thus far eluded champion jockey Zac Purton. He takes the reins on Helene Feeling (Ire) (Sioux Nation) for Danny Shum and actually exits a try at group level when he was third as the favourite in the G3 January Cup H. at the city circuit Jan. 10. Winner of four from 10 in Hong Kong, he raced in England as Indian Dream and was a two-time scorer in the lower grades while under the care of Michael Bell.

Beauty Crescent (Ire), whose sire Acclamation (GB) was responsible for 2022 Classic Mile and now multiple Group 1 winner Romantic Warrior (Ire), won the Listed Blenheim S. in 2022 while under the care of Ger Lyons, and though he may not quite be up to winning this, can contend for a minor award. He exits a pair of luckless runs in Class 3 over 1400 metres and attacked the line on both occasions. Andrea Atzeni rides for the legendary Tony Cruz.

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O’Brien Pair To Race On In Hong Kong

Group 1 second Islandsinthestream (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and the group-placed Mythology (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) have both been sold to Hong Kong interests and will race on in that jurisdiction, Joseph O'Brien confirmed to The Irish Field on Tuesday. The former is now in the barn of Tony Cruz, with Mythology settled in with Pierre Ng.

“Everybody needs to keep trading for the bottom line,” O'Brien told The Irish Field. “We're lucky to have had 2-year-olds who could compete in those top juvenile races and now it's all about looking forward to the next generation.”

Formerly owned by Islandsinthestream Partnership, the dual winner is out of A Mist Opportunity (Aus) (Foxwedge {Aus}), herself a half-sister to three stakes winners. Bred by Haras d'Etreham and Katelanis Bloodstock, the bay brought €135,000 as an Arqana October yearling in 2022. For O'Brien, he broke his maiden at the Curragh, before running second in both the G2 Futurity S. and G1 National S. to Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Successful in an allowance at ParisLongchamp in September, he finished his year with a close second in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud in October.

Sold for 62,000gns out of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Mythology made 320,000gns as a juvenile during the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale last April before racing for a Coolmore partnership which included Teme Valley. The second foal of Rely On Me (Ire) (Kyllach {GB}), he was bred by E. Smith and Cloneymore Farm. Second to Henry Longfellow at the Curragh prior to that colt's group heroics, the bay won a maiden at Galway and ran second in the G3 Prix Francois Boutin in his fifth start and 2-year-old finale. Mythology is kin to G1 Italian Oaks heroine Menhoubah (Dixieland Band).

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Victor the Winner Goes All The Way In Centenary Sprint Cup

Perennial leading jockey Zac Purton fired in a six-timer Sunday at Sha Tin, his best day in 15 months, but he was unable to sweeten the deal in the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup. Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse {Aus}), the newly crowned world's best sprinter, was the $1.35 jolly to follow up on his victory in the G1 Longines Hong Sprint Dec. 10, but he was slow through the early stages and it ultimately spelled doom, as Derek Leung walked the dog astride Victor the Winner (Aus) (Toronado {Ire}) en route to a $38 boilover.

Having defeated the champion sprinter in the traditional opening-day Class 1 feature over Sunday's course and distance back in September–a race run at a snail's pace in wet conditions–Victor the Winner was an on-pace fourth in December's Group 1 contest and was exiting a seventh to Whizz Kid (Aus) (Shalaa {Ire}) in Group 3 company up the 1000-metre straight Jan. 7.

Accordingly sent off at rough odds Sunday, Victor the Winner nearly beat the gate and was immediately in front and was able to run leisurely sections in the lead, going the first 400 metres in :24.30 (standard :23.50) with Whizz Kid doing the chasing and Lucky Sweynesse buried back in the latter third of the field. Still traveling supremely easily on the turn, Victor the Winner got the opening 800 metres in :47.25 (standard :45.80), meaning he had plenty left when the real running started and he was never in any sort of danger in the run to the line. Hong Kong Sprint runner-up Lucky With You (Aus) (Artie Schiller) earned another top-level placing in second, while former champion Wellington (Aus) (All Too Hard {Aus}) acquitted himself well in third. Despite a final sectional clocking of a race-fastest :21.98, Lucky Sweynesse could do no better than sixth, beaten 4 1/4 lengths.

“It feels great. Thank you for the opportunity from the owner and the trainer,” said homegrown rider Derek Leung, annexing his first Group 1 since guiding Beauty Generation (NZ) in the 2017 Hong Kong Mile. “We drew an outside gate, but we flew out of the gate, so (we) took advantage and just went forward–he was quite relaxed after that and at the 500m, I knew he was going to kick very strong. Very lucky, it was a win.”

Winning trainer Danny Shum, who sent Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) to Australia to land the G1 Cox Plate last October, has a potential overseas target in mind for Victor the Winner, namely the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo Mar. 24.

“I entered him in Japan over 1200m, so I will see how he pulls up and then decide if I keep him in Hong Kong or send him to Japan in March,” Shum said. “I've considered Japan for a long time, because it's a left-hand turn. In the morning, his left-hand turn is better than his right-hand turn, so we have to give him a chance overseas.”

Of the beaten favourite, Purton told South China Morning Post: “He just couldn't get going early and that's his Achilles' heel. Some days he just can't show any gate speed, which was the case today. Once all the horses got their spot, they just slammed on the brakes and he was back in a bad spot. There is not much you can do about it.”

 

 

 

Pedigree Notes:

Victor the Winner is the 35th stakes winner and 13th group/graded winner for Swettenham Stud shuttler Toronado, now the sire of five elite-level scorers worldwide.

Swettenham purchased the stakes-placed Noetic for A$100,000 from the Patinack Farm dispersal in September 2013 and the mare produced her first foal for Adam Sangster about a month later. A half-sister to the dual stakes-placed Starlight Lady (Aus) (Fantastic Light), Noetic is the dam of three winners from five to the races and her most recent produce is a yearling filly by Swettenham's I Am Immortal (Aus), who was purchased for A$5,500 in utero from the 2022 Inglis June Online Sale. The filly was s bought back on a bid of A$150,000 at the Inglis Great Southern Sale last June.

Victor the Winner's fourth dam, Big Dreams (Great Above), produced two-time American champion sprinter Housebuster (Mt. Livermore) and the family also includes Nutella Fella (Runhappy), winner in the US of the 2023 GI Hopeful S.

According to the Australian Stud Book, Noetic passed away Mar. 2, 2023.

Sunday, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
CENTENARY SPRINT CUP-G1, HK$13,000,000, Sha Tin, 1-28, 3yo/up, 1200mT, 1:09.43, gd.
1–VICTOR THE WINNER (AUS), 126, g, 5, by Toronado (Ire)
1st Dam: Noetic (Aus) (SP-Aus), by Cape Cross (Ire)
2nd Dam: Dancing Starlight, by Atticus
3rd Dam: Night and Dreams, by Fappiano
1ST STAKES WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN, 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (A$180,000 Ylg '20 INGMAR). O-Chu Yun Lau; B-Adam Sangster (Vic); T-Danny Shum; J-Derek Leung; HK$7,280,000. Lifetime Record: 14-7-2-0, HK$19,744,025. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Lucky With You (Aus), 126, g, 6, Artie Schiller–Heredera (Aus), by Northern Meteor (Aus). (A$130,000 Ylg '19 INGMAR). O-Vincent Leung Man Him; B-Emirates Park Pty Ltd (NSW); T-Frankie Lor; J-Andrea Atzeni; HK$2,730,000.
3–Wellington (Aus), 126, g, 7, All Too Hard (Aus)–Mihiri (Aus), by More Than Ready. (A$70,000 Ylg '18 MMGCYS). O-Mr & Mrs Michael Cheng Wing On & Jeffrey Cheng Man Cheong; B-Kia Ora Stud Pty Ltd, David Paradise, Steve McCann (NSW); T-Jamie Richards; J-Hugh Bowman; HK$1,495,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 37-1, 19-1, 6-1.
Also Ran: Son Pak Fu (Aus), Flying Ace (NZ), Lucky Sweynesse (NZ), Taj Dragon (Ire), Whizz Kid (Aus), Packing Treadmill (Aus), Courier Wonder (NZ), Duke Wai (NZ), Sight Success (Aus), Super Wealthy (Aus). Click for the HKJC chart, PPs and sectional timing.

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Lucky Sweynesse Part of Baker’s Dozen For Centenary Sprint Cup

Having been officially recognized as the world's top-rated sprinter in London earlier this week, Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse {Aus}) figures difficult to beat in defence of his title in Sunday's G1 Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse.

The 5-year-old added last season's G1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup in March and the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize the following month, but took a pair of defeats under big weights in his first two starts this season. More workmanlike than brilliant in besting Victor the Winner (Aus) (Toronado {Ire}) in the G2 Jockey Club Sprint in November, Lucky Sweynesse was more dominant in defeating Lucky With You (Aus) (Artie Schiller) in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint, making him the first to win each of the jurisdiction's Group 1 sprints in a calendar year. Still, champion jockey Zac Purton believes his mount can do even better.

“It's not easy to win any international race in Hong Kong, so you've got to put it towards the top of his list,” Purton told South China Morning Post. “But it wasn't one of his most devastating performances. I think he's feeling pretty good. I think he's taken another little step again so I'm looking forward to the race.”

 

 

 

Wellington (Aus) (All Too Hard {Aus}) is winless since taking the 2022 Hong Kong Sprint, a race in which Lucky Sweynesse endured a checkered passage, and was second in this event last season. Now under the care of Jamie Richards, the 7-year-old was a sound third in the International Sprint last time out.

Courier Wonder (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}) was runner-up to Lucky Sweynesse in the Chairman's Sprint Prize, but hasn't seen a winner's enclosure since running his record to a perfect five-from-five in Group 3 company in May 2021. He returns from a six-month absence and now resides in the barn of Mark Newnham.

“I'm very pleased with him,” the Aussie expat told the HKJC's Declan Schuster. “We've had him for about eight weeks now and so far the preparation has been without incident. I've been riding him a lot in work myself and I am happy with the way he is moving.”

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