Hong Kong invader has the class to rule kingdom

Pace ace: Sacred Kingdom can land tomorrow’s Golden Jubilee Stakes

13 April 2012

A phenomenal week of racing with a truly international flavour is set to draw to a close and Sacred Kingdom can strike for Hong Kong in the six-furlong Golden Jubilee Stakes.

Just six Group 1 races have fallen to Hong Kong-trained horses on foreign soil since 2000, but the Australian-bred former world champion sprinter looks primed to put the Far-East in seventh heaven.

The late entry cost connections £45,000 to supplement him into the race and the winner of the Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint in a record time at Kranji in Singapore last month is fully expected to win.

Initially trained in a Australia by Clarry Connors, Sacred Kingdom (nap) was sold to Hong Kong before his first run as a juvenile and he won eight of his first nine starts. He has won 12 of 18 races overall, including three wins at the highest level at his ideal trip of six furlongs.

The gelding will be ridden by Australian Brett Prebble, who at 31 is a cult hero in Hong Kong, where he tops the jockeys' standings.

Prebble says he is "on the best sprinter in the world today" - but the Ricky Yui-trained six-year-old will have to be a world-beater to overcome the hazardous 30-hour trip from Singapore.

Horses lose a lot of weight in humid conditions, so travelling on top of that run may prove a factor. On the other hand, a lengthy flight did not stop Aussie wonder Scenic Blast from blitzing his rivals in the King's Stand on Tuesday.

Then there's opponents who include South African sprint star J J The Jet Plane, trained by Mike De Kock, who is chasing his first Royal Ascot winner. He has not run at this level internationally before but has had the benefit of one run at Windsor - a scorching effort which will have put him spot on.

At 10, Australian legend Takeover Target's best years are behind him, but while Luca Cumani's Ialysos, a winner of all seven starts in Greece takes a big step up in class after a winning British debut in a Listed race at Haydock last month, the challenger could have a major role to play tomorrow.

Yet the feeling is Sacred Kingdom is a cut above the rest - so the final Group 1 trophy of the meeting won't be leaving on a Jet Plane.

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Athletics, Track And Field

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Eastern Asia (the Far East)

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Hong Kong invader has the class to rule kingdom

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