Four from four and a class record holder at Happy Valley, Whizz Kid – the horse who covers five furlongs faster when he runs around the bend rather than in a straight line – returns to Sha Tin for Sunday’s Class Two Lukfook Jewellery Cup (1,000m).
Whizz Kid’s Happy Valley 1,000m personal best of 55.89, which he set when he blew away his Class Two opponents under Australian jockey Zac Purton last time out, is 22 one-hundredths of a second quicker than the fastest of his four Sha Tin 1,000m times, the 56.11 effort he produced in defeat under Brazilian rider Joao Moreira on March 12.
But the nine-week gap between Whizz Kid’s win on November 9 and the next Happy Valley 1,000m race at Class Two level on January 11 means Tony Cruz’s sprinter, whom Jockey Club handicappers hit with an 11-point penalty for his two-and-three-quarter-length defeat of Rock Ya Heart, will contest Sunday’s feature event on Sha Tin’s straight course.
Cruz, who leads the compacted trainers’ premiership race on 22 wins from Frankie Lor Fu-chuen (21), John Size (20) and Francis Lui Kin-wai (19), expressed his frustration at Whizz Kid’s lack of options.
“He’s not a Sha Tin horse, but we have to go where the programme tells us we have to go,” Cruz said.
“He’s got the one system. He seems to have a real breather on the turn at Happy Valley. That’s why he can kick on again. Zac was really shocked he could perform there so well, but Happy Valley is his track. He loves it. He needs to go around a bend.
“The programme is very limited at Happy Valley. Once you’re a 100-80 rating, you’re stuck. They don’t have the races for them. Look at Class Four. Shocking. You’ve got a race every day, any distance you want. But the higher you go up, the harder the races are to come by.
“There’s a Class Two over 1,000m at Happy Valley in mid January. We’re definitely coming back, and once he’s back, I think he’ll have a very good shot.”
As much as Whizz Kid favours Happy Valley over Sha Tin, he is a winner on the latter’s 1,000m straight, carrying 132 pounds, including Moreira, to triumph off a mark of 57 on January 9.
With Whizz Kid now rated 98, Cruz has booked his indentured apprentice jockey, Angus Chung Yik-lai, to reduce the HK$7 million earner’s impost to 125 pounds, and the pair will start from gate seven.
Chung’s 10-pound claim means the Lukfook Jewellery Cup galloper who will cart the heaviest weight will be Trillion Win, who bled from both of his nostrils after he finished sixth in the Class One HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup (1,200m) at Sha Tin on opening day.
What could Romantic Warrior v Golden Sixty v California Spangle look like?
Manfred Man Ka-leung’s Trillion Win was the second favourite for his first-up assignment three months ago.
With Alexis Badel out of action through the injuries he sustained in his Sha Tin race fall from Size’s ill-fated Fantastic Way on November 20, Hugh Bowman is Trillion Win’s new rider, and they have been allocated the most favourable barrier closest to the standside rail.
As Cruz has elected to engage Chung, Size has secured the services of Purton, whose Happy Valley treble elevated him to 60 victories this season, to partner Ping Hai Galaxy from gate nine.
Comments
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
