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Heavyweights and rising stars line up in Sunday��s Sha Tin features

01/04/2016

Sha Tin hosts a big race double-header on Sunday, 3 April with the HKG2 Chairman’s Trophy (1600m) and the HKG2 Sprint Cup (1200m) attracting top calibre contenders.

G1 winners Designs On Rome, Blazing Speed and Contentment head the line-up for the Chairman’s Trophy, a race that is often a pointer to two of Hong Kong’s elite spring features, the G1 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup (24 April) and the G1 Champions Mile (1 May).

Neil Callan rode Blazing Speed to win last year’s AP QEII Cup and is expected to partner the Tony Cruz galloper in that 2000m contest again in a month’s time, but on Sunday he will be aboard another of his regular allies from the Cruz stable, Beauty Only. Callan has ridden the five-year-old in 13 of his 17 Hong Kong starts, including all four of his local wins, the biggest being last season’s HKG1 Hong Kong Classic Mile.

Beauty Only’s form this year has been solid in the highest grade. Three starts back the Holy Roman Emperor gelding placed fourth to Giant Treasure in the G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) and followed that with a sound third to Contentment in the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m). But last start, the bay finished a below-par fifth of six behind Rewarding Hero, carrying top-weight of 133lb in a mile Class 1 handicap.

“Beauty Only was a little bit disappointing last start but I put it down to the ground. Every time I’ve ridden him on slow ground he hasn’t performed, so as long as the ground is good, fast racing ground, he’ll be at his best,” said Callan.

“He proved in his two runs before that that he’s up to scratch, behind Contentment and before that Giant Treasure, so if you take out his last run, he’s going to be there. Those previous two runs, he was stuck for room a little bit as well. It’s a strong field but on his best form he would be there or thereabouts, that’s for sure.”

Gerald Mosse will fill in on Blazing Speed but Callan will be taking a keen interest in how the gelding performs with a view to the AP QEII Cup.

“Blazing Speed’s in good health and I expect him to go forward from this run into the QEII,” said Callan. “Sunday is all about giving him a blowout, knocking the cobwebs away and having him ready for the big day at the end of the month. He’s well and we’ll see how he goes.”

The John Moore-trained Designs On Rome heads the field of eight for Sunday’s mile feature, fresh from a last start win in the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) at the end of February. Moore will also saddle Rewarding Hero and Dashing Fellow, the latter having won the HKG3 Hong Kong Macau Trophy (1400m) last time.

The John Size-trained Contentment earned a first G1 win in February’s G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) and takes in this contest en route to the G1 Champions Mile. The Dennis Yip-trained Secret Weapon and the third Cruz runner, Multivictory, complete the line-up.

Earlier on the 10-race card (Race 3), eight speedsters will contest the HKG2 Sprint Cup (1200m), including the exciting prospects Lucky Bubbles, Amazing Kids and Packing Pins.

The Francis Lui-trained Lucky Bubbles and the Size-trained Amazing Kids are considered by many observers to be the future stars of the Hong Kong sprint division, and they could yet take their places in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), the fourth leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, on 1 May. Packing Pins, also entered for that speed feature, is likely to make his name over a slightly longer stretch of ground, five of his six career wins having been achieved at 1400m.

Ricky Yiu’s talented five-year-old steps back into the fray for the first time since a narrow second to Multivictory in the HKG3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup (1400m) on 1 January. The Pins gelding was then sidelined due to a freak injury sustained during a January barrier trial on Sha Tin’s dirt track.

“He badly bruised his eye - he caught some kick back and had to have a small surgery,” said Yiu. “He’s doing well now, though. He had a bit of a break to recover and he has trialled impressively, so I expect him to run well again.

“After the break, he’s freshened up and first time back over 1200 metres I expect him to go well. After this I’ll look to step him up to 1400 metres and a mile.”

The eight-strong field also features the Caspar Fownes-trained Dundonnell, the Moore pair of Charles The Great and Frederick Engels, the David Hall-trained Rad and Divine Boy from the Me Tsui stable.

The day’s exciting racing kicks off at 1pm with the Plantation Handicap (1400m), while the Chairman’s Trophy is race seven on the card, off-time 4.05pm.

Beauty Only (No. 2) wins his first start this term in the Kwangtung Handicap Cup.
Photo 1:
Beauty Only (No. 2) wins his first start this term in the Kwangtung Handicap Cup.

Packing Pins lands the Lukfook Jewellery Cup in style earlier this season.
Photo 2:
Packing Pins lands the Lukfook Jewellery Cup in style earlier this season.

 

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