The worlds best sprinter, Sacred Kingdom, added yet another Group One win to his tally by winning the Centenary Sprint Cup over 1000m at Sha Tin yesterday. He defeated stable mate Ultra Fantasy by three-quarters of a length in a fine performance down the Sha Tin straight. This is the champion’s first win in the race and certainly isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, prevailing as an odds on favourite.
Second place getter Ultra Fantasy ran out of his skin and never shirked at the task, fighting on doggedly after setting a good clip. The John Moore trained One World was well supported and started second favourite but was simply no match for the world champion as he sticked on for third and will improve over the longer trips.
The other feature of the day was the Group One Stewards Cup which gave Aussie jockey Zac Purton his first taste of Group One glory in Hong Kong when he piloted classy gelding Fellowship to a head victory over Thumbs Up who finished strongly for second. “I thought we had the race won some distance out but then he started to prick his ears when he heard the other horse coming and I had to shake him up a bit ” said Purton.
Race favourite Good Ba Ba simply got too far back and rattled home out wide on the course to finish in third spot. The disappointment of the race was the John Moore trained Collection who raced towards the rear throughout and made little impression in the run to the line meanwhile Fellowship is to now be set at the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup on March 14 and the Champions Mile on April 25.
Written By Xavier Blair
