Hong Kong racing continues on Sunday (22 October) for a 10-race turf fixture at Sha Tin.
The card sees a small but select field of some of Hong Kong’s best sprinters line-up in the Group 2 Premier Bowl Handicap over 1200m, with reigning champion sprinter LUCKY SWEYNESSE aiming to bounce back to his winning ways.
LUCKY SWEYNESSE’S six-race unbeaten streak came to an end when he raced first-up in the Class 1 Chief Executive’s Cup Handicap (1200m) on the first meeting of the season on September 10th. On that occasion, VICTOR THE WINNER got away with murder up front, posting early splits of 25.01 seconds for the first 400m of the race and 23.46 seconds for the second 400m—around 1.5 seconds slower than the class standard for the first section and 1.36 seconds slower than standard for the second section.
He sure is well named! 🌟
Victor The Winner cruises home under 115lb (and @KarisTeetan) to capture the Class 1 HKSAR Chief Executive's Cup over Lucky Sweynesse. 🏆#SeasonOpener | #HKracing pic.twitter.com/tM9NsJH68t
— HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) September 10, 2023
With LUCKY SWEYNESSE second-to-last and 3.75 lengths behind VICTOR THE WINNER at the 800m mark, narrowing the gap was an uphill task. Despite his efforts, he finished second, trailing by 2.5 lengths. Once again, the speed map will be key to LUCKY SWEYNESSE’S chances on Sunday, with just a small field of six horses going to post. Meanwhile, VICTOR THE WINNER is expected to have control up front once more and will take catching.
Elsewhere on card, progressive five-year-old SWORD POINT heads the weights in a quality Class 2 Handicap over 1800m.
Trained by Frankie Lor, this middle-distance galloper had a successful first season in Hong Kong last term, securing two wins and three second placings from 10 starts. He was the runner-up in the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) in the Four-Year-Old Classic Series. SWORD POINT then finished a respectable sixth in the Hong Kong Derby before running three solid races, ending the season with a convincing 1.25-length victory over 2000m.
Lor will be hopeful that SWORD POINT will continue to perform well this term and is likely to aim for December’s Group 1 Hong Kong Cup. With two impressive trial wins under his belt and starting from barrier 1 on Sunday, SWORD POINT is in excellent form and is expected to be a tough contender.
