Zac Purton says a favourable barrier draw and forecast genuine tempo are why Lucky With You will relish tackling both the minimum trip and Sha Tin straight for the first time when they combine in Sunday’s Class Two Fife Handicap (1,000m).
A four-time winner over 1,200m who placed eighth in last season’s Classic Mile, Lucky With You resumes in the first 1,000m contest of his career off the back of two impressive trial victories.
Sha Tin’s straight course favours sprinters starting from high-numbered gates – Lucky With You is drawn to jump from barrier 11 of 11 – and the presence in the Fife Handicap field of Whizz Kid under 10-pound claiming apprentice Angus Chung Yik-lai should ensure Sunday’s main event is run at a solid speed.
Purton is on a salvage operation after riding Lucky With You on his last start, a race in which nothing went right for both horse and jockey behind the subsequent Champion Griffin, Lucky Sweynesse.
“He drew poorly that day so I took him back. They didn’t go hard and he pulled himself into the ground, so he didn’t perform,” said Purton about Lucky With You’s three-and-a-half-length ninth when favourite for the Class Two Beas River Handicap in June.
“That was at 1,400m. His best form so far has been over the six furlongs and here he is fresh, up the straight off the back of a good trial.
“I think it’ll be fine because he has that tendency to overdo it. He’s not going to do that this race with the speed in it, and he’s drawn the right side of the track. He gets his chance to perform.”
The David Hayes-trained Lucky With You’s rating soared from 62 to 92 during his first full Hong Kong campaign.
Purton, whose ride aboard Oriental Smoke at Sha Tin last weekend broke Hayes’ barren spell, thinks the five-year-old gelding can improve again.
“He’s had the benefit of the off-season, a bit of a break,” Purton said. “As we know in Hong Kong, that generally helps them develop a little bit. I’ve been on his back in the morning, he feels good, so there’s no reason he can’t come back and take another step.”
Cruz hopes Kid apprentice can help sprinter Whizz down Sha Tin straight
Lucky With You is not the only galloper preparing for his first experience of the Sha Tin straight on Sunday.
Handsome Bo Bo, Astrologer and Apache Pass have not competed in a 1,000m race at Sha Tin, whereas Alcari has four wins and four placings from his 11 appearances over the course and distance.
Purton has a full book of rides on Sunday’s 10-race Sha Tin card as he crosses swords with his great rival, Joao Moreira, for the first time this term. Moreira has seven engagements on his belated return.
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