Manfred Man targets Speed Series clean sweep before plotting trip abroad with Lucky Sweynesse
Manfred Ma Ka-leung will let Sunday’s Group One Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) winner Lucky Sweynesse attempt to become the first sprinter to win all three races that comprise Hong Kong’s Speed Series in the same year since Silent Witness before he plots an overseas raid with his best-ever horse.
Lucky Sweynesse parlayed his Group One Centenary Sprint Cup (1,200m) victory on February 5 into Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup success on Sunday, running over the top of odds-on favourite California Spangle in the Sha Tin straight to score by one and a quarter lengths, with Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) hero Wellington another three lengths adrift.
This year’s Hong Kong Speed Series, for which there is a HK$5 million bonus for any galloper who wins all three legs, concludes with the Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1,200m) on April 30.
Man, 65, for whom Lucky Sweynesse is responsible for both of his Group One victories in a training career that began in 2001 but did not scale great heights until recently, has exciting plans for his star, who has won over 1,200m seven times and 1,400m thrice.
“At this moment, we’re looking for another 1,200m Group One race. After that race, we’re thinking about the distance for him. We’ll be [looking to take him overseas]. Maybe Japan,” said Man, to whom the Jockey Club recently issued a trainer’s licence for the 2023-24 campaign so he is able to continue beyond the standard retirement age.
Zac Purton – who partnered Lucky Sweynesse to six of his first nine wins, including his victory in last month’s Centenary Sprint Cup – elected to ride Group One Hong Kong Mile champion California Spangle on Sunday, with Kiwi jockey James McDonald flying in from Australia to team up with Man’s speedster.
Unsurprisingly, California Spangle led the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup in its early stages. What was surprising, however, was the slow speed that Purton set aboard the Tony Cruz-prepared front runner.
The opening 200m of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup was run 0.42 seconds slower than the Group standard, and the second sectional time – the 400m between the 1,200m and 800m poles – was 0.67 seconds slower than the class benchmark.
The small field flew home to finish under the overall standard by 0.08 seconds, with Lucky Sweynesse’s superior acceleration accounting for California Spangle, whom he had tracked closely.
McDonald empathised with Purton, who had been aboard Lucky Sweynesse in each of his past five races but chose to remain loyal to California Spangle.
“Zac had a hard choice to make. Two exceptional horses going toe to toe. Thankfully, I was on the right one today,” said McDonald, who won December’s Group One Hong Kong Cup (2,000m) on Romantic Warrior.
“[Lucky Sweynesse] gives you a lot of confidence throughout the running, too. He’s got a great turn of foot. He’s very smart, there’s no doubt about that.
“You only have to look at California Spangle’s form and it suggests, if you’re running next to him, you’re at a very good level.
“He’s a pretty straightforward sort of horse. He’s got a great mind to him. He was quick into momentum and we had a perfect trailing position behind California. He got a lovely tag into the race from the 500m onwards, and it felt like a drag race home.
“I was confident I was going to pick him up, but California never lays down. He’s always in for the fight.”
The order and distances of this year’s Hong Kong Speed Series races are different than they were in 2005 when Silent Witness won the Centenary Sprint Cup (1,000m), Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1,200m) and Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) in that order.
