David Eustace is aiming to maintain a rich vein of form at Sha Tin on Sunday (7 December) that has seen him climb the trainers\u2019 standings in recent weeks, hoping it extends to next week\u2019s HK$130 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races meeting.<\/p>
Five wins from the last four Sha Tin meetings have ignited the second-season handler\u2019s campaign after a slow start, and one of his best chances of adding to his seasonal tally of eight wins is Swift Ascend in the day\u2019s sporting highlight, the Class 2 Chatham Handicap (1200m, dirt).<\/p>
The Lord Kanaloa gelding struck three times \u2013 his only three wins \u2013 in quick succession at the beginning of the 2024\/25 season and made a sound start to the current campaign with a fast-closing fifth place last month. Eustace believes the timing is right for the six-year-old to make his bow on the dirt.<\/p>
\u201cI always wanted to do it (run him on dirt), but probably the right opportunity hadn\u2019t presented. This race was three weeks after his really good first-up run,\u201d Eustace said.<\/p>
\u201cKick-back is something that a lot of horses may not enjoy early on when they\u2019re not used to it, but they do get used to it. His run style is going to be the most concerning part of it,\u201d he added. \u201cHe\u2019s a horse who does sit midfield or worse, so the draw will be important.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9922″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Swift Ascend (117lb) was drawn in barrier seven, and will be ridden for the first time by Harry Bentley on Sunday.<\/p>
Eustace hopes his surge will extend to next week\u2019s LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, where he saddles the 2024 BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) winner Massive Sovereign in the HK$40 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m). It\u2019s a challenge that will provide the second-year trainer with his first taste of the jurisdiction\u2019s showpiece meeting, though it pits his runner against the great Romantic Warrior.<\/p>
\u201cI\u2019m very happy with Massive Sovereign,\u201d Eustace said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big assignment. But all we can do is get him to the races in as good a shape as we can. You never know, it\u2019s a horse race.\u201d<\/p>
Another of the stable\u2019s leading chances on Sunday in the Class 3 Mody Handicap (1650m, dirt) is Loch Tay (132lb), who provided Richard Kingscote with his first winner of the season last month. Having his first run on the dirt, the three-year-old chestnut enjoyed a wonderful trip to prevail by three-quarters of a length at odds of 20\/1.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s a good travelling horse. He got himself in a good pitch that day and responded well to pressure,\u201d Kingscote said. \u201cWe had an OK draw that day, so hopefully at the weekend we can get another good sit, and hopefully we can come forward.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9921″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Meanwhile, the soon-to-be-named 2025 LONGINES World\u2019s Best Jockey, James McDonald, believes Galaxy Patch, his mount in the HK$36 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m), has come on for his half-length victory in last month\u2019s G2 BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile (1600m). Speaking after the six-year-old\u2019s final barrier trial ahead of the race, McDonald was excited about the Wandjina gelding\u2019s prospects.<\/p>
\u201cThe thing about Galaxy (Patch) is, I feel he\u2019s improved since the other day. He seems to have got a bit of confidence out of that (win), and he didn\u2019t trial as good as what he trialled for me this morning leading into that run. So, it just shows that he\u2019s taken a good step forward, and I think I\u2019m on the right horse there,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>
Sunday\u2019s (7 December) 10-race fixture at Sha Tin starts at 1pm with the Class 5 Ashley Handicap (1650m, dirt).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9919″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]David Eustace is aiming to maintain a rich vein of form at Sha Tin on Sunday (7 December) that has seen him climb the trainers\u2019 standings in recent weeks, hoping it extends to next week\u2019s HK$130 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races meeting.Five wins from the last four Sha Tin meetings… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":9920,"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\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9916"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9916"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9934,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9916\/revisions\/9934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}