Fast Network (NZ) Flies Home in National Day Cup

Wednesday’s HK$4.2m Group Three National Day Cup (1000m) at Sha Tin shone a spotlight on an emerging talent who was bought for just $30,000 from Book 2 of Karaka 2022.

The sprint feature was the sixth win of a 13-start career for Fast Network (NZ) (Wrote), who has now earned HK$10.17m for owner Ng Hung Yau. That’s the equivalent of over NZ$2.2m, which is 75 times his purchase price.

Fast Network has previously performed with merit all the way up to 1600 metres, finishing fourth in last season’s Hong Kong Classic Mile. But Wednesday’s National Day Cup victory was a display of pure speed in a 1000-metre race that was run in just 55.64 seconds.

Ridden by Alexis Badel for trainer Dennis Yip, Fast Network settled at the back of the eight-horse field before bursting into contention with a brilliant turn of foot. It was such a sudden move that there were still 200 metres remaining when he hit the front, but he kept going strongly all the way to the line and held out the late challenge of Raging Blizzard (NZ) (Per Incanto) by a neck.

“I knew he’d be a very strong contender in this race, so I was chasing the ride, and I’m grateful that the connections and the trainer gave me the confidence of the ride,” Badel said. “It’s always nice to deliver. I thought he won brilliantly. I probably hit the front too soon, but he had plenty to offer. It was great.”

Yip is now setting his sights on the HK$5.35m Group Two Premier Bowl (1200m) on October 26.

“He’s a late finisher, this horse,” he said. “So in the early stages, I told the jockey not to push him a lot. Just leave him alone, let him relax and then he will finish the last 300.

“He’s a very honest horse. At the end of the month, there is a Group Two for him over 1200 metres. I think that’s my target for him.”