Journalists Wandering Eyes Posted 4 hours ago Journalists Share Posted 4 hours ago Champion sprinter Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse) continued his comeback from an injury with a 1000m turf trial at Sha Tin on Tuesday morning as he heads towards the HK$5.35 million Gr.2 Sprint Cup (1200m) on 30 March. The multiple Group One winner has been off the scene since last April when he had surgery on his left front fetlock after he was injured when winning the 2024 edition of the Gr.2 Sprint Cup. Ridden by Matthew Poon in the barrier trial, the four-time Group 1 winner finished second of eight runners, a length and a half behind California Touch, who clocked 58.62s. Fresh from Ka Ying Rising’s stunning triumph in the Gr1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) on Sunday, David Hayes hopes Sight Happy can propel Zac Purton closer towards Hong Kong history at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. Purton, 42, needs only two more wins to overtake Douglas Whyte’s tally of 1,813 Hong Kong victories and takes seven rides at Happy Valley tomorrow night – John Size-trained Spirit Of Peace and Beauty Alliance, Firefoot for Chris So, Aestheticism for Pierre Ng, David Eustace’s Riding Together, View Of The World for Dennis Yip and Sight Happy for Hayes. Hayes, who has provided 10 of Purton’s 72 winners this season, including five with record-breaking sprint star Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress), is optimistic Sight Happy can snare his second victory this campaign when he contests the Class 4 Kowloon Park Handicap (1200m) from barrier two. “Zac can hopefully settle midfield and, with a bit of luck, he can put his run up,” Hayes said. “He’s had some bad barriers but the last couple of runs, he’s been able to show what he’s capable of. He’s a healthy little horse and very sound, so hopefully he’ll keep putting the runs up.” Purton believes another solid book of rides has the potential to deliver the record tomorrow night. “We’ll see how we go, Happy Valley is always a little bit tricky. You need to get the right run and a few things go your way, but I’ve only got two (wins) to go now, so nearly there,” the seven-time Hong Kong champion said. “View Of The World (NZ) (Derryn) won nicely last time, but he drew the right gate (one), had a soft run behind the leaders and skipped home against an average field, so he had all the favours but I like the way he did it and he gets around the Valley nicely, so I’m hoping he can go on with it.” With a Sha Tin double last Sunday leaving Purton with 1,812 wins, the Australian is spearing towards an eighth Hong Kong championship with 72 wins for the season – 39 clear of Hugh Bowman (33) – after 39 of 88 scheduled meetings. View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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