The HK$12 million G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) continues a blockbuster stretch of Hong Kong racing this weekend (Sunday, 5 February) at Sha Tin when the might of Wellington \u2013 Hong Kong Champion Sprinter (2021\/22) \u2013 takes centre stage.<\/p>
Richard Gibson\u2019s star speedster will be looking to join elite company by becoming only the second horse in history to win all three top-level sprint contests in Hong Kong as well as the G1 Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) \u2013 a remarkable feat achieved by only the immortal Silent Witness.<\/p>
All that\u2019s missing from Wellington\u2019s haul is success in the Centenary Sprint Cup to go along with his victories in the 2022 G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), 2021 and 2022 G1 Chairman\u2019s Sprint Prize (1200m) and 2022 Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup.<\/p>
A 12-time winner from 19 starts in Hong Kong, Wellington boasts earnings of HK$56.58 million and will reunite with familiar ally Alexis Badel this weekend after the Frenchman was forced to miss his LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint success last month due to injury when Ryan Moore deputised.<\/p>
\u201cIt was a tough moment. I decided to go to the races and support the team because that\u2019s how it works \u2013 it\u2019s a team effort and I did that instead of watching the race at home.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s such a talented horse, so there was no surprise to see him win it, considering he\u2019s beaten a lot of those horses in the past. So he was just doing what he can do \u2013 his best,\u201d Badel said.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Wellington charges to 2022 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint glory.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Prior to last month\u2019s LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, Badel had partnered Wellington to each his top-level wins in Hong Kong.\u00a0<\/p>
\u201cThe life of a jockey is up and down, it\u2019s never smooth and that\u2019s what it is and you have to accept it. I\u2019m just happy to be back, I\u2019m very motivated and hungry.<\/p>
\u201cIt\u2019s never easy as a jockey because you become a spectator and it\u2019s not ideal but on the other side it\u2019s just a job, if you focus on your whole career, it\u2019s only a minor, small event and if you put it in perspective, it\u2019s quite easy to move forward and bounce back,\u201d Badel said.<\/p>
Wellington won the G2 Premier Bowl Handicap (1200m) first-up this term before suffering defeat in the G2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m).<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s super talented, he\u2019s got the confidence and he\u2019s just too good \u2013 he\u2019s just a great horse.<\/p>
\u201cHe trialled alright, he\u2019s had a little bit of holidays since the Hong Kong Sprint. I was very happy to see him back at the trials and that was pretty satisfying \u2013 I\u2019m happy,\u201d Badel said.<\/p>
Sunday\u2019s Centenary Sprint Cup will kick off Hong Kong\u2019s three-race Speed Series, which also features the Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup run on 19 March and closes with the Chairman\u2019s Sprint Prize on 30 April at FWD Champions Day.<\/p>
If successful in all three legs, the connections of Wellington or the winning connections of the triumphant horse will receive a HK$5 million bonus for their efforts.<\/p>
Courier Wonder, Duke Wai, Lucky Sweynesse, Master Eight, Sight Success, Sky Field and Super Wealthy also hold entries for Sunday\u2019s Centenary Sprint Cup.<\/p>
\u201cLucky Sweynesse is the rising star and he was unlucky in the Hong Kong Sprint. Sight Success has always been a tough competitor too \u2013 I always try to not underestimate these horses,\u201d Badel said.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”8015″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The HK$12 million G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) continues a blockbuster stretch of Hong Kong racing this weekend (Sunday, 5 February) at Sha Tin when the might of Wellington \u2013 Hong Kong Champion Sprinter (2021\/22) \u2013 takes centre stage.Richard Gibson\u2019s star speedster will be looking to join elite company by becoming… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":8016,"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\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8012"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8012"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8018,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8012\/revisions\/8018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/centenary-sprint-cup\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}