Chasing a second BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) triumph, Frankie Lor is upbeat ahead of the HK$24 million Classic at Sha Tin on Sunday (19 March) despite the contrasting form lines of Sword Point and Keefy.<\/p>
Lor agrees Sword Point, to be ridden by Hugh Bowman, is clearly his stable\u2019s top contender based on recent form, a favourable barrier (six) and performance over the Derby trip (unbeaten from one attempt at 2000m in Australia).<\/p>
\u201cSword Point is a really good horse for me at this moment. He\u2019s already won over 2000 metres in Australia (at Rosehill Racecourse in January, 2022), so we don\u2019t need to worry about the distance. The horse is fit and the jockey is in good form,\u201d Hong Kong\u2019s reigning champion trainer said.<\/p>
\u201cI think every trainer, jockey and owner all want to win the Derby. Of course, I want to win again. It depends on whether the horse is good enough and usually the good jockeys know what to do in the race, so it\u2019s easier to leave it with them.\u201d<\/p>
Lor and Bowman combined to land the BMW Hong Kong Derby with Furore in 2019 and appear to have a strong chance again with Sword Point.<\/p>
With an 1800m victory to his credit at Sha Tin on 8 January, Sword Point was a creditable sixth in a tempo-dictated Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 29 January behind Voyage Bubble in the first leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series before a brave second to Super Sunny Sing in the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 26 February.<\/p>
Keefy, who will be partnered by Derek Leung from gate five, has finished seventh and 13th in the first two legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, prompting Lor to change the previously consistent gelding\u2019s trackwork.<\/p>
\u201cKeefy at his last two runs has been quite disappointing, so I\u2019ve had him fully checked and we couldn\u2019t find anything, so I\u2019ll give him a chance again,\u201d Lor said.<\/p>
\u201cWe have changed his training to try to get him to relax behind other horses. The last two races, he has been a little bit too keen and wanted to fight with the jockey so this time we need to get him to relax and I hope he can run better.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9037″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Hopeful of joining an impressive list of compatriots to win the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m), including Douglas Whyte, Felix Coetzee, Weichong Marwing, Basil Marcus and Robbie Fradd, Lyle Hewitson is excited ahead of his first ride in the Classic when he partners David Hayes-trained Bon\u2019s A Pearla.<\/p>
\u201cIt\u2019s my first ride in the Derby. Last year in the Derby was reserve one, Boom Alliance,\u201d Hewitson said. \u201cBut it\u2019s nice to be on Bon\u2019s A Pearla. She\u2019s a horse with credentials but she hasn\u2019t stepped up to that mark here and we bump into a few smart horses but she\u2019s a genuine horse so it\u2019s good to be aboard one like her.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9036″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Richard Gibson retains telling faith in Wellington as Hong Kong\u2019s Champion Sprinter (2021\/22) prepares to tackle the HK$12 million G1 Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m), the second leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series.<\/p>
\u201cI\u2019m very happy with him, his \u2018prep\u2019 has been very smooth. I thought it was a good trial last week and he\u2019s the defending champion, so I\u2019m looking forward to the race,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>
\u201cAll I do is look at his very, very impressive race record and the fact he\u2019s the defending champ. I think you\u2019ve got to be a very good horse to beat Wellington.\u201d<\/p>
Attempting to secure a fifth Group 1, Wellington will be ridden by Ryan Moore as he faces fellow Group 1 victors California Spangle (Zac Purton), Lucky Sweynesse (James McDonald) and Waikuku (Damian Lane) in a field completed by Courier Wonder (Blake Shinn).<\/p>
Sunday\u2019s (19 March) meeting at Sha Tin starts with the Class 4 Sky Darci Handicap (1200m) at 1pm.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9035″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Chasing a second BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) triumph, Frankie Lor is upbeat ahead of the HK$24 million Classic at Sha Tin on Sunday (19 March) despite the contrasting form lines of Sword Point and Keefy.Lor agrees Sword Point, to be ridden by Hugh Bowman, is clearly his stable\u2019s top contender… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":9039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9034"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9034"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9041,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9034\/revisions\/9041"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}