Any questions about Lucky Sweynesse loosening his grip on the world’s best sprinter mantle were swept aside when Manfred Man’s speedster surged to victory in the HK$26 million Gr.1 Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.
It was a redemptive triumph for Lucky Sweynesse, who had no luck in last year’s sprint finishing sixth behind Wellington after a tiring horse took him back through the field.
Lucky Sweynesse was sent off as the raging favorite last year and it was repeated again this time around.
Momentarily it looked like Lucky Sweynesse was again in need of a big slice of luck at the top of the straight when Zac Purton had to get off heels and hook him around runners to get a clear passage up the straight but he quickly accelerated to score from the fast-finishing outsider Lucky With You with Wellington finishing third.
Wellington, now under the care of ex-pat kiwi trainer Jamie Richards, hasn’t won a race in seven attempts since winning last December’s big sprint. It was the gelding’s second run back after finishing 10 of 16 in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1200m) at Ascot in June.
Hong Kong horses filled the first five positions with Victor The Winner fourth and 8yo Per Incanto gelding Duke Wai fifth.
After resuming with two seconds, Lucky Sweynesse scored a narrow victory in the Gr.2 Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin last month.
But the doubters still questioned whether the five-year-old gelding would return to his absolute best, but he won so comfortably he was visibly eased up over the final 50 metres.
Victor The Winner and Jasper Krone were both in the traditional roles in the front early, with Lucky Sweynesse positioned not far off them.
When Lucky Sweynesse got clear running, he surged past Victor The Winner, to score by three quarters of a length from the fast finishing Lucky With You, while Wellington was a length and three quarter away in third. Victor The Winner was a further two lengths from the winner in fourth. The winning time was 1m 09.25s.
“That’s horse racing,” Purton said after the win.
“I had the run inside Victor The Winner but when James (McDonald) went for him, he shifted in and hampered me a little bit but he (Lucky Sweynesse) accelerated so quickly, I was able to come out across his heels and he had his chance from there – he did what he had to do. I love him.”
Purton said Lucky Sweynesse deserved the win.
“He’s been our best sprinter for the last year, and he was able to atone for last year,” said Purton, who predicted pre-race Lucky Sweynesse was back to his best after a relatively modest start to the season.
“I could feel in the morning his trackwork had improved, and his action was getting a little bit better. His all-around demeanour in the morning was getting back to where it was last season. I could see he was blossoming at the right time.”
It was Purton’s 11th overall Group One win at the Hong Kong International Races. It was his third victory in the Hong Kong Sprint after a pair of wins by Aerovelocity in 2014 and 2016.
Lucky Sweynesse was sold at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale out of Woburn Farm’s 2020 draft for $90,000 to Joe Barnes’ J & I Bloodstock. The gelding was a six length trial winner at Ellerslie out of Shelley Hale’s Cambridge stable before transferring to Hong Kong.