Spectacular Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) Heads Karaka 1-2 in Hong Kong Group One

Karaka graduates finished first and second in Sunday’s HK$20m Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin, headed by a demolition job by Hong Kong’s latest sprinting superstar.

It was the third Group One win for the season for Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse), who had previously captured the Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) and Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m). A $90,000 purchase from the 2020 Ready to Run Sale, the exceptional four-year-old has now had 16 starts for 12 wins, three placings and HK$43.3m (NZ$8.92m) in stakes.

A luckless sixth in the Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) in December, Lucky Sweynesse has been untouchable ever since with five consecutive victories. The Chairman’s Sprint Prize was among the most impressive, overcoming a wide run in the early part of the race and putting his rivals to the sword in the home straight.

The four-year-old was in a class of his own through the final stages, opening up a winning margin of three and a quarter lengths and stopping the clock at 1:08.38.

“That was what we were hoping to see today,” jockey Zac Purton said. “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 he had Wellington (All Too Hard) and Sight Success (Magnus) holding their spots inside me going into the first corner and trying to make me do a little bit of work. So I was worried that 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. The sky is the limit at the moment.

“He’s very unassuming and once he gets out of the gates, you can ride him anywhere – inside, outside. He’s versatile in his races, he can come from back in the field, he’s led, he’s stalked the leader. He’s such a lovely horse, and he’s very laid-back and he conserves his energy for races.”

Lucky Sweynesse also collected an additional HK$5m bonus for completing Hong Kong’s three-race Speed Series. This was only the fifth time in history that a horse has swept all three races, and the first since the great Silent Witness (El Moxie) did it in back-to-back seasons in 2003-04 and 2004-05.

Trainer Manfred Man suggested that future targets for Lucky Sweynesse included either the Group One Yasuda Kinen (1600m) in Tokyo in June, or the mega-rich The Everest (1200m) in Sydney in the spring.

“This is very special to me,” he said. “I think, at this moment, we’re thinking about 1200 or 1400-metre distances. One mile is still a concern, the distance. We’re still thinking. I need to discuss with the owner first. When we make the decision, we’ll tell everybody.”

The runner-up was Courier Wonder (NZ) (Sacred Falls), who was a $150,000 purchase from Book 1 of Karaka 2019. A brother to the Group One-winning Australian mare Icebath (NZ) (Sacred Falls), Courier Wonder has had 18 starts for five wins, three placings and career earnings in excess of HK$17.8m.

Vendor	Woburn Farm
Purchaser	J & I Bloodstock (Waikato)
Breeding	Sweynesse – Madonna Mia
Sale	Lot 284, 2020 Ready to Run Sale, $90,000
Bred by	P L Dombroski, Explosive Breeding Ltd & S A Sharrock

 

Photo : Hong Kong Jockey Club