By Alan Carasso
Whereas the QE II Cup serves as the centrepiece of the Apr. 24 meeting, a pair of Group 1 events are carded for Sunday, May 1, including the Chairman's Sprint Prize.
Repositioned on the Hong Kong racing calendar to fill the hole left by the cancellation of the G1 KrisFlyer International Sprint, the Chairman's Sprint Prize has also been added to the Global Sprint Challenge and has attracted G1 Al Quoz Sprint hero Buffering (Aus) (Mossman {Aus}) as well as G1 T J Smith S. victor Chautauqua (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}), widely regarded as Australia's top sprinter.
The Chairman's Sprint Prize will also mark the return to action of 2014 G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint hero Aerovelocity (NZ) (Pins {Aus}), who was most recently scratched from a title defence in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen with a bout of colic. The champion prepped for the Chairman's with a smooth 'victory' in a Tuesday barrier trial over the Sha Tin all-wether surface, coming with a three-wide challenge into the stretch before easing home to score by a half-length (video).
“He was just very relaxed today, probably the most relaxed he's ever been, which was a good sign,” said jockey Zac Purton of the oft-temperamental gelding. “I think he's just happy to be back home, after everything he's been through he's just comfortable being back here. But he's been getting more and more relaxed as he's gone on and I keep saying to [trainer] Paul [O'Sullivan] that he seems to be handling things better all the time. It doesn't worry me that he was like that today–I actually take a bit of comfort out of it, knowing that he's just cruising along doing his thing.”
In the morning's other two trials, Giant Treasure (Mizzen Mast) defeated Packing Pins (NZ) (Pins {Aus}) by a neck (video), then galloped out strongly past the wire in the first heat. Both are set to clash in the G1 Champions Mile. Gold-Fun (Ire) (Le Vie Dei Colori {GB}), the beaten favorite in last year's G1 Hong Kong Sprint, was given a fairly easy time of it in the third and final trial of the morning, finishing fifth without being overly extended (video). He is expected to take on Aerovelocity in the Chairman's Sprint Prize.
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