Victor the Winner became Victor the group 1 winner in the Centenary Sprint Cup (G1) Jan. 28 at Sha Tin Racecourse, derailing the world’s highest-rated sprinter, Lucky Sweynesse, along the way.
They can’t catch Victor The Winner! 😳
Danny Shum’s charge takes the Centenary Sprint Cup from the front in a shock result at odds of 37/1 under Derek Leung… 🔥🔥🔥#SpeedSeries | #HKracing pic.twitter.com/7W3QFO328a
— HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) January 28, 2024
The 5-year-old Toronado gelding led throughout the 1,200 meters (about 6 furlongs) en route to a triumph that stunned the crowd, many of them solid fans of the favorite. With jockey Derek Leung riding confidently, Victor the Winner held on to score by 1 3/4 lengths. Lucky With You, an Artie Schiller gelding who also has been on the improve, was second.
“We flew out of the gate,” Leung said, so (we) took advantage and just went forward. He was quite relaxed after that and at the 500 meters, I knew he was going to kick very strong. Very lucky, it was a win.”
The big guns were virtually silent. Former Hong Kong sprint champ Wellington put in his usual late bid to get up for third. Lucky Sweynesse, rated best sprinter on the Longines World’s Best Racehorse listings at 125, was never in contention and finished sixth. He had missed a top-three finish only once before in his illustrious Hong Kong career—the 2022 Longines Hong Kong Sprint (G1), in which he was badly blocked in the stretch.
Lucky Sweynesse’s rider, Zac Purton, who won six races on the program, said the Centenary Sprint Cup was a similar story.
“He (Lucky Sweynesse) didn’t jump slow, but he couldn’t get into stride, and then when the horses got in front of him and backed the speed right off, that made it impossible from where we were. So, he just lost it in the first part of the race,” Purton said.
Lucky Sweynesse actually was clocked fastest in the field for the final split but, by that time, was too far back to make an impact.
Victor the Winner closed out his 2022-23 season with a promising second-place finish behind Lucky Sweynesse in the Sha Tin Vase (G3). In that, he led briefly before giving way in the late going to get home 1 1/4 lengths back of the champ.
He started with a victory in his first race of the 2023-24 season, then battled on the fringes in group company. He was fourth in his only previous group 1 race, the Dec. 10 Longines Hong Kong Sprint, behind Lucky Sweynesse, Lucky With You, and Wellington.
Winning trainer Danny Shum, who sent out Romantic Warrior to a signature victory in the Cox Plate (G1) in Australia in October, said Victor the Winner now might carry the Hong Kong flag overseas, perhaps at Chukyo Racecourse March 24 in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1).
“I entered him in Japan over 1,200 meters, so I will see how he pulls up and then decide if I keep him in Hong Kong or send him to Japan in March,” Shum said. “I’ve considered Japan for a long time, because it’s a left-hand turn. In the morning, his left-hand turn is better than his right-hand turn, so we have to give him a chance overseas.”
