Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) Defends Sprint Cup Crown

Hong Kong’s sprinting superstar Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse) notched up his 10th black-type victory with an emphatic defence of his title in Sunday’s HK$5.35m Group Two Sprint Cup (1200m) at Sha Tin.

Bought for $90,000 from Woburn Farm’s draft at the 2020 Ready to Run Sale at Karaka, Lucky Sweynesse has now had a total of 24 starts for 16 wins, five placings and HK$74.28m in stakes – the equivalent of NZ$15.7m, which is 175 times his purchase price.

Lucky Sweynesse won last year’s Sprint Cup as part of an extraordinary eight-win season that catapulted him to the top of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for sprinters. Those eight victories came from just 10 starts and included all of his last six in succession, three of them at Group One level.

The freakish five-year-old added another elite win to his collection in the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) in December, but he has been a victim of circumstances on a number of occasions this season and won only two of his first six starts in this campaign. But Lucky Sweynesse’s class and star quality shone through on Sunday and he got things back on track in no uncertain terms.

Patiently ridden by Hugh Bowman, Lucky Sweynesse settled at the tail of the field before launching an irresistible finish over the top of Invincible Sage (Thronum) to win by half a length. The time was 1:09.17 on rain-dampened ground.

“He needs no introduction – he’s Hong Kong’s best sprinter and he has been for some time,” Bowman said. “He’s an ultra-consistent horse and it’s an honour to ride horses of this calibre. It was just delightful to get the job done today.

“I was confident in the run because I thought the pace was frantic early and I was able to get in a really smooth, comfortable rhythm throughout. I knew what I had underneath me when I asked him to extend.”

Trainer Manfred Man has now set his sights on the Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) on April 28 – a race Lucky Sweynesse won by more than three lengths during his all-conquering campaign last season.

“At this moment, I’m very happy and we will plan for the Chairman’s Sprint Prize again,” he said. “I hope he can keep his form, but I think it should be no problem. The horse normally keeps very well, but the last few runs we’ve had a little bit of bad luck. Hugh Bowman rode a good race for us today.”