Super Sacred takes Sprint glory
Local hero Sacred Kingdom secured his second victory in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin in the hands of Brett Prebble.
Ricky Yiu’s speedball, winner of this Grade One prize in 2007, travelled strongly throughout the six-furlong contest and cruised up to challenge for the lead halfway up the home straight.
Prebble always appeared confident he had matters in hand and although One World finished with a wet sail inside the final furlong, Sacred Kingdom kept up the gallop to win a shade cosily.
The three British raiders Borderlescott, Total Gallery and War Artist failed to make their presence felt where it mattered.
Borderlescott’s trainer Robin Bastiman said: “They were just too good for us and there are no excuses.
“Neil (Callan) said he got a nice lead but when they turned in, they all just quickened away from him.
“To be honest, they’re just different class out here and we’ll be staying at home in the future.”
Stan Moore’s Total Gallery raced up with the pace for much of the contest before dropping away to finish sixth, but the trainer was encouraged by his performance.
“He was too much on the snaff early and even the pacemakers struggled to go past us,” said Moore.
“We’ll give him a break and then take him out to Dubai on World Cup night. We may then think about Singapore.
“He’s proven today that he’s a big player in all these races.”
Australian sprinter All Silent had been the talking horse for much of the week, but he was ultimately well held.
His trainer Grahame Begg said: “It’s always disappointing when you don’t win, but we didn’t have a lot of luck and will live to fight another day.
“We’ll take him back to Australia and work out a plan from there, but I don’t think the time frame will allow him to go to Dubai.”
When asked about a possible trip to Royal Ascot next summer, Begg added: “You never say never and we’ll just see how he pulls up.”
