High hopes for Pingwu Spark
Patience is a virtue that trainer Benno Yung knows well. On Sunday (29 April) at Sha Tin, his Champions Day hopes will rest squarely on the fulfilment of his steady nurturing of a late-maturing galloper with a Group 1 heritage – Pingwu Spark, a great-grandson of a Juddmonte legend.
Yung, a journeyman apprentice jockey in the early 1980s, worked through the stable block grades for more than a quarter of a century, progressing to the role of assistant trainer at the feet of that master of composed restraint, John Size. He matured to licensed trainer aged 54.
More than four and a half years on from his first runner, Yung’s patient approach to the strapping Pingwu Spark will see the five-year-old take his place as a solid option in the HK$18 million Champions Mile – 11 months, 10 races, five wins and a last-start Group 2 placing since the grey gelding’s Hong Kong debut.
“Actually, at the start he was not easy to train,” Yung said of the New Zealand import, a winner of one from two in the land of the long white cloud back in the southern hemisphere spring of 2016.
“It took some time to get him ready for Hong Kong racing but once we got him to where he needed to be he showed that he’s a good horse.”
Pingwu Spark’s racing weight is north of 1300lb. When the hulking gelding arrived in Yung’s yard, the handler was careful about how he developed his charge’s fitness, working from February of last year to arrive at his race debut on 4 June weighing a relatively lean 1295lb.
“He’s a big horse, so his body weight was an issue,” the handler said. “Because he’s so big we had to be careful with him; we had to take our time to get him fit enough so that he could hold his frame at speed, otherwise he might have got injured; we had to have patience to do that to protect his joints.”
Pingwu Spark has since progressed from a Class 3 win over 1200m on his seasonal bow to a place amongst Hong Kong’s best milers. His rating has climbed from 73 to a high-class 119 and that quality can be traced to his genes.
The gelding’s third dam is the Juddmonte homebred Slightly Dangerous, the Group 1 Oaks runner-up whose offspring included such Group 1-winning luminaries as Warning, Commander In Chief and Yashmak, as well as the classic-placed Deploy and Dushyantor, and Group 1 Fillies’ Mile runner-up, Jibe.
Sharp Point, Jibe’s daughter, was sent to the Coolmore stallion Mastercraftsman, a Group 1 winner at a mile whose ability to stay 2000 metres was proven when second behind Sea The Stars in the Group 1 International Stakes at York.
Pingwu Spark was the result and there is plenty in that pedigree to suggest that Yung’s stable star might himself excel at a little farther than a mile.
“It would be no surprise to step him over longer in the future – 2000 metres, I’m not sure, he may, but certainly 1800 would be no problem,” Yung said.
But, for now, the Champions Mile is the focus and drawing a good gate is the pressing desire.
“A lot will depend on the draw. He’s a flexible horse but if he draws wide he’ll have to use his speed to go forward,” Yung said.
Wide draws when sixth at his only previous Group 1 attempt in February’s Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m), and again last time out, have not helped Pingwu Spark.
“The draw will be crucial – if he draws a good gate it will be easier for him to find a good spot in the early stages,” jockey Derek Leung said.
“He ran well last time but we didn’t have the good gate so we used him early and pushed forward to see how it would unfold, but when the pace was fast we found cover. He was gassed in the early stages but still finished third off a strong tempo.”
That was in the Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy (1600m) behind the re-opposing Beauty Only. Prior to that, the big grey failed by a short-head to overcome the front-running Southern Legend in a Class 1 handicap.
“I think in his last two starts he’s proven that he’s competitive off this rating,” Yung said. “With a better draw he’d have run better in both races.
“It’s a Group 1 race on Sunday and the others are top class milers so you want everything to go your way, but I’m very pleased with him – so far, so good.”
And Yung believes that Pingwu Spark’s progression has not yet peaked.
“I think he can take his rating higher. He’s been improving every start this season and now he’s learned how to race.”
The Champions Mile is one of three Group 1 features on Champions Day, alongside the HK$24 million Audemars Piguet QEII Cup (2000m) and the HK$16 million Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m).