Hong Kong’s two best sprinters, Lucky Sweynesse and Wellington face off in the Centenary Sprint Cup (G1) Jan. 28 at Sha Tin Racecourse with Wellington looking for a massive turnaround.
The last six times the two have met, Lucky Sweynesse has got the better of his older rival. Still, Wellington’s new trainer says he’s hopeful the seventh time will be the charm.
It’s a big ask.
Lucky Sweynesse is ranked the world’s top sprinter in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse assessment of 2023 results. He capped the year with a victory in December’s Hong Kong Sprint (G1) with Wellington finishing third. Adding to the task, Wellington now is 7, to his main rival’s 5. And he added some wear and tear in June of 2023 with a trip to Royal Ascot, where he finished 10th in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (G1).
Jamie Richards, who took over as Wellington’s trainer this season on Richard Gibson’s retirement, said things have gone well for his charge since the December race and he’s benefitted from a stay at the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s plush Conghua training facility on the Chinese mainland.
“Wellington is good,” Richards said in the lead-up to the Centenary Sprint Cup. “He’s had an easy time since the international sprint. He went up to Conghua, he trialed nicely the other day, everything seems to be in order with him.
Wellington works in December at Sha Tin Racecourse
“Obviously, it will be very hard to beat Lucky Sweynesse. But hopefully, with a bit of luck we can still be a chance.”
Lucky Sweynesse, who won the race in 2023, drew gate 5 and will have his regular rider, Zac Purton, aboard. Wellington, with Hugh Bowman in the kip, goes from the 6-stall.
There will be 11 others in the field, including Lucky With You, who finished second between the two stars in the December race at odds of 36-1. That was the 6-year-old’s first group 1 effort.
“He definitely has a live chance but it will be tough against one of the best sprinters we’ve seen—Lucky Sweynesse,” said Lucky With You’s jockey, Andrea Atzeni. “Hopefully he’s improved, which he will need to be.”
The Centenary Sprint Cup is the first leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series, to be followed by the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (G1) March 10 and the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (G1) April 28.
