Hong Kong Sprint beckons for smart trialist
THE Tony Millard-trained Strathmore is on target for the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint after producing a smart trial at Sha Tin on Tuesday.
The five-year-old hasn’t raced since running third in the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize behind Chautauqua after suffering a setback, but its effort for second behind former Australian runner Not Listen’tome in a trial was a good indicator heading forward.
Strathmore ran 1000m in 58.39 which suggests the $51 at Bet365.com for the Hong Kong Sprint is well worth taking.
“I think that’s the best trial he’s ever done because he normally doesn’t trial very well. He’s never really shown us a great deal in his trials so I was pleased with that,” Millard said.
“He had a little bit of a setback that we were a little bit worried about, but it seems, at this stage, that he’s over that and we move forward. If not for that he would have run earlier.”
Strathmore is likely to line up in the Group 2 BOCHK Wealth Management Jockey Club Sprint on November 20 before the son of Fastnet Rock targets the Sprint on December 11.
“Neil (Callan, jockey) was very happy with him. He said he travelled well and jumped straight into it,” Millard said. “I think, on that, I will speak to Iain (Bruce, owner) and just check that we go towards the race next week, as long as he comes out of this okay.”
Stablemate Super Jockey won the Group 1 Korea Sprint in September and Millard gave the eight-year-old a much-deserved spell. The Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen runner-up ran over 1200m on Tuesday and it will head straight into the Hong Kong Sprint where it’s currently paying $51 at Bet365.com.
“That was a very nice trial,” Millard said. “We didn’t ask him too much because he has another five weeks before the Hong Kong Sprint. He’ll have one more trial before then.
“He has certainly come back well. He was nice and aggressive today and Karis (Teetan, jockey) has had to ease him down – we didn’t want him to do too much because we still have those five weeks to go. Both horses, as long as everything goes all right, they’re on track.”
2014 Hong Kong Sprint winner Aerovelocity was also on show at Sha Tin on Tuesday with the eight-year-old running 1200m in 1:10.25 with Zac Purton in the saddle.
“He’s still not at his top,” Purton said. “He’s just struggling to get in there at the moment. He’s got one more run into the Hong Kong Sprint and hopefully that tops him off. He’s a bit older now and it’s just taking him a bit longer to hit his best form.”
Aerovelocity is still well-favoured in the betting at $7 with current favourite Lucky Bubbles the dominating favourite at $4.