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Callan picks up Dundonnell as he aims for another Blazing day

29/05/2015

Neil Callan has enjoyed a fine season in Hong Kong and the Irishman could be in for another big day on Sunday (31 May). Blazing Speed appears to have a massive chance in the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup and Dundonnell, in the HKG3 Sha Tin Vase (Handicap), heads a supporting book of smart rides.

Dundonnell will have to overcome top-weight of 133lb in that 1200m contest if he is to follow up last month’s course and distance win in the HKG2 Sprint Cup. That was the five-year-old’s second career start at the distance.

The First Defence gelding raced eight times for trainer Roger Charlton in Britain at distances from 1400m to a mile and did not drop back to the six-furlong trip until his 15th Hong Kong start. That first effort, in February’s HKG1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize against the likes of Gold-Fun, Aerovelocity, Lucky Nine and Peniaphobia, saw him finish a respectable three lengths seventh.

Callan is hopeful that the Richard Gibson trainee, whom he partnered in trackwork back in late 2013 but has never ridden a race, still has some improvement at the sprint distance.

“It’s nice to get on him,” said the rider, who has 39 wins on the board this term. “I did some work with him when he first came to Hong Kong and then he moved stables and he seems to have improved quite a bit. He was a good winner last time so it’s nice to pick the ride up.

“He jumped good and tracked up quite nicely last time. He showed a good turn of foot but then kind of battled it out and went away from them in the end, so it could be a new thing for him, going back to sprinting, and you never know, the more he goes sprinting the more he might improve.”

Dundonnell will face 13 rivals including the David Hall-trained Rad (123lb), who galloped Thursday morning in company with the 67-rated System Overload. The five-year-old, a winner of four from six in Hong Kong, clocked 50.0s (27.7, 22.3) for 800m on the turf course under Douglas Whyte as he prepared for only his second attempt at 1200m.

“I’m very happy with him. He feels fantastic and I don't see a problem going around the bend,” said Whyte.

Also in the line-up are smart stalwarts of the Hong Kong sprinting scene’s upper reaches, Charles The Great (128lb), Smart Volatility (127lb), Golden Harvest (126lb) and Tour De Force (124lb), as well as the talented four-year-olds Divine Calling (119lb) and Not Litsenin’tome (113lb).

Callan, meanwhile, was upbeat about the Tony Cruz-trained Blazing Speed’s chances in Sunday’s HK$10 million Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m), a race the pair won last year when it was a local G1 contest. That victory boosted the rider’s status in Hong Kong to a new level and he is hopeful of a repeat.

“Blazing Speed’s recent barrier trial was pretty impressive, I was very happy with him and Tony’s very happy with him since - he looks great, he’s bouncing,” he said. “He’s drawn a gate (3), which is important. I know it’s a long-distance race but it just means that he doesn't have to do anything; he can jump out, find his feet, get a position and just wait. He’s done nothing but improve all year and I’m just the lucky one to get on him.”

Heavy rainfall has hit two of the past three Hong Kong race meetings but Callan, although slightly unsure about the implications of that prospect as regards how it might affect Blazing Speed’s chance of success, is by no means worrying about it.

“I rode him once on slow ground when he finished behind Variety Club in the Champions Mile. It was a different trip but it was quite testing and I just didn’t feel like he was at his best. Maybe that was because of the speed of the race - it was over shorter - but he’s a good moving horse. If it rains, it rains and we’ll have to deal with it. If it doesn’t, it’s a plus,” he said.

The field of eight also features Dominant who has scored three times at the course and distance, in the 2013 G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase and twice in the HKG3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup (2012 and 2013). The John Moore-trained entire’s stablemate Helene Happy Star landed this season’s edition of the Queen Mother Memorial Cup on 9 May under Callan. The jockey made all on the four-year-old who relished the wet conditions that day. Joao Moreira will be in the plate on Sunday.

Moore will also saddle Same World and Harbour Master, while Blazing Speed’s high-class stablemate Helene Super Star will also bid for G1 glory. The John Size-trained Khaya, third in December’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, and the Tony Millard-trained Mr Gnocchi complete the line-up.

Callan also has an exciting ride in race two, the Class 4 Liberator Handicap (1000m) down the straight. Top-weight Bayonet (133lb), trained by Danny Shum, was impressive in winning his first career start four weeks ago.

“He gave me a really nice feel. I was going in there quite confident that he could come up to the task and he did. He’s a nice horse,” said the rider. “In trackwork he’s become more relaxed, which is a plus coming back after a race or a barrier trial. Everything is ok with him; it’s not a great draw but he has natural speed.”

This year’s Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup is the first to be staged as an international Group 1 contest, open to overseas challengers, having been designated a local Group 1 race since 1992.

Sunday’s 10-race card kicks off with the first race at 12.45pm and a free door gift of a Standard Chartered Race Day Champions Cap will be given to race goers on Sunday. One cap will be given per entrant until Race 5 (while stocks last).

Standard Chartered Race Day Champions Cap
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Standard Chartered Race Day Champions Cap

 

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