Peniaphobia set for Sprint Cup but no more travel this season

22/04/2015

Peniaphobia will attempt to cap an impressive breakthrough season with another important win in the HKG2 Sprint Cup (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday, 26 April.

Tony Cruz’s charge announced his arrival in the top bracket of Hong Kong’s sprinters with success in the G2 BOCHK Wealth Management Jockey Club Sprint at the course and distance back in November. He has since made his mark on the world stage with second-place efforts in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) and Dubai’s G1 Al Quoz Sprint (1000m). Add to that the four-year-old’s HKG1 Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup triumph (1000m) back in January.

Cruz has one eye on this upcoming December’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint as he aims his speed star at Sunday’s heat, in which he will face nine talented rivals, some of whom have overseas engagements in the pipeline. After clocking up air miles to Dubai already this year, Cruz has no such plans for Peniaphobia. 

“I’m happy with the horse,” said the trainer. “He travelled back fine from Dubai, he’s a really calm horse and nothing excites him. He eats well and his weight’s good. He’ll just have light work now leading into the race.

“I was very happy with his run in Dubai; the winner was just too good for him. He won’t be going anywhere else this season though, he’ll stay here; no Singapore, no nothing.”

That is not the case for Lucky Nine who, all being well, will attempt to notch a hat-trick of wins in next month’s G1 KrisFlyer International Sprint (1200m) at Kranji. Hong Kong’s reigning Champion Sprinter is another coming back from a Dubai trip, although his resulted in disappointment as he ran home a dirt-covered 11th in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen (1200m).

Tony Millard saddled Super Jockey to run a brilliant second in the Golden Shaheen and he has hopes that Golden Harvest will do enough in the Sprint Cup to confirm his ticket to Singapore.

The top-class field also features the Richard Gibson-trained Gold-Fun, last season’s Champion Miler. The six-year-old dropped down to 1200m for the first time in his career to win the HKG1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) here in February. He was third last start behind Able Friend in the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m).

The line-up also features the 2014 Sprint Cup winner Charles The Great, trained by John Moore, and his stablemate Frederick Engels. Gibson will also saddle Dundonnell, while John Size relies on Tour De Force and the promising Teofilo Calva. The Francis Lui-trained Smart Volatility, a high-class runner on his day, completes the line-up.

The HKG2 Sprint Cup is one of the exciting contests on Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup day at Sha Tin. The HK$20 million G1 APQEII Cup (2000m) has attracted a top-class field that includes the past two winners, Designs On Rome and Military Attack, as well as world-class overseas raiders Criterion, Red Cadeaux, Staphanos and Smoking Sun.

Past winners of the Sprint Cup