Rising Hong Kong sprint star Lucky Sweynesse has joined an elite group of horses with victory in Sunday’s HK$20 million G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin on FWD Champions Day.
After being triumphant in the first two legs of Hong Kong’s three-race Speed Series, Lucky Sweynesse, under jockey Zac Purton claimed the HK$5 million bonus in addition to the eye-watering HK$11.4 million winner’s cheque when he made a one-act affair the feature sprint race at Sha Tin starting at $1.20.
Courier Wonder ($34) ran home from last for 2nd place, and Wellington ($10) weakened for third place ahead of fourth placed Sight Success ($21).
Chairman’s Sprint Prize – Post-race jockey quotes
1st: LUCKY SWEYNESSE – Zac Purton
“That was what we were hoping to see today and it was just a matter of whether he could get out of the gates and get himself into a nice position and to his credit, he begun really well today but obviously had Wellington and Sight Success holding their spot inside me going into the first corner and trying to make me do a little bit of work so I was worried doing the next bit of work on him might be a telling factor but this horse just continues to get better. I feel like we’re going to see a better horse again next season.”
2nd: COURIER WONDER – Hugh Bowman
“I was delighted. I thought he was ready to run a peak performance for the season and that’s exactly what he’s done.”
3rd: WELLINGTON – Alexis Badel
“He runs very well. I think he has excuses. I thought he wasn’t smooth around the 600m and that put the horse off balance slightly, but the winner was untouchable anyway. He still ran a good race. I’m happy with the performance.”
4th: SIGHT SUCCESS – James McDonald
“It was a good run.”
5th: AGURI – Cristian Demuro
“Maybe a longer distance would be better for him in Hong Kong but he tried his best to finish fifth.”
6th: DUKE WAI – Jerry Chau
“He jumped a bit slow but travelled well into the race but, in the end, he just stayed on; he couldn’t quicken, there was no turn of foot.”
7th: FLAMING RIB – Tom Marquand
“Characteristically he got himself a bit worked up before the race which doesn’t help. He’s run reasonably well. There’s a reason this race is so hard to win with the depth of sprinters. He battled on well to the line but sadly just missed the prizemoney. Hopefully he can head home and have a good summer.”
8th: MASTER EIGHT – Joao Moreira
“I had to go forward from the gate but he just couldn’t cross them and that told at the end. I didn’t push him when he was a beaten horse.”
