By David Morgan
Aerovelocity will attempt to show Hong Kong’s rising sprint stars that he is still a force to reckon with in Sunday’s (20 November) HK$4 million G2 BOCHK Wealth Management Jockey Club Sprint (1200m).
Champion Sprinter for the 2014/15 season, Aerovelocity has pretty much done it all. The New Zealand-bred powered through the ranks from headstrong Class 3 loser to history-making G1 hero. His wins in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, Takamatsunomiya Kinen and KrisFlyer International Sprint set him apart as the first and only Hong Kong horse to win top flight races in three different jurisdictions.
But after those heady triumphs, last season tested both the Pins gelding’s mettle and his connections’ nerves. Off-colour in his prep, Aerovelocity was pulled from consideration for the Hong Kong Sprint; he returned with a bulldozing win in January’s Centenary Sprint Cup; then colic thwarted a second assault on Japan’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen.
Now the bull-headed bay faces a new challenge or two. Lucky Bubbles is the sprinter of the moment, the horse with all before him, and tugging at that exciting gelding’s tail is another from the rising brigade, Amazing Kids.
“Lucky Bubbles and Amazing Kids, they’re going to be Hong Kong’s next good sprinters coming through,” trainer Paul O’Sullivan said this morning (Friday, 18 November).
Those great new hopes of Hong Kong’s traditionally strong sprint scene filled the first two places in last month’s G2 Premier Bowl Handicap (1200m). Aerovelocity was a length and a quarter third of the 12 runners.
“I can’t say he’ll beat them on Sunday,” O’Sullivan said. “But, you know, the other day, I think the track was off a little bit, on the fence, and he was in need of the run, so I think he’ll be competitive.”
An aging frame is O’Sullivan’s prime concern. Aerovelocity has three years on Lucky Bubbles and Amazing Kids.
“He’s eight years old and anything from here on in is a bonus; you can't expect him to be as good as he was when he was six,” O’Sullivan observed.
But while the Kiwi handler remains pragmatic, he still harbours a hope that his stable star retains enough spark to pick off another major prize or two, with one eye fixed on the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint in three weeks’ time.
“The horse himself is going very well, he’s sound and he certainly retains that competitiveness within himself,” he said. “I think he’s improved a bit on his first run, which was to be expected, and a lot of it on Sunday is going to come down to the run of the race, he’s going to need all the favours but he might get them.”
Aerovelocity heads into the Jockey Club Sprint off a good show in a 1200m all-weather barrier trial a week and a half ago. The former champ broke smartly, made all and carried big race partner Zac Purton past the post six and a quarter lengths clear of his nearest fellow triallist.
“His last trial was very sound,” O’Sullivan said. “From barrier one on Sunday, he’s going to get a good run, either in front or just behind the speed. I think he’ll be very competitive.”
As well as the aforementioned young guns, Aerovelocity will face Hong Kong’s all-time highest-rated horse, the returning Able Friend, who unleashed a stunning late burst to win the Premier Bowl Handicap at the course and distance 13 months ago.
Last year’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) winner Peniaphobia will concede a 5lb penalty to the rest of the 10-runner field. Not Listenin’tome, Dundonnell, Lucky Year, Strathmore and Dashing Fellow complete the strong line-up.
Sunday’s 10-race card also features the G2 LONGINES Jockey Club Cup (2000m) and the G2 BOCHK Wealth Management Jockey Club Mile (1600m). The Jockey Club Races are the prime lead-ups to the HK$83 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on Sunday, 11 December.
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Photo 1:
Aerovelocity lands a stylish win in last season��s HKG1 Centenary Sprint Cup.
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