Blue Point out to make up for Meydan no-show in Group 1 sprint

Preview: Hong Kong, Sunday9am GMT

Sha Tin: Chairman’s Sprint Prize (Group 1) 6f, 3yo+

Godolphin's star sprinter Blue Point (Charlie Appleby/William Buick) is on a lucrative retrieval mission in Hong Kong on Sunday, having been withdrawn when favourite on his intended last start in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan four weeks ago.

Although the stable won the race with Jungle Cat, there was no disguising the anguish caused off course when Blue Point was seen with blood in his nostril before the start and was not allowed to run.

Events could be a blessing in disguise, for while the Al Quoz was worth more than £440,000 for first place, the Chairman’s Sprint Prize, being run for the second time as an international Group 1, offers take-home pay north of £862,000 for the winner.

To make his mark Blue Point will have to break through the Group 1 barrier for the first time, against most of Hong Kong’s top sprinters, and he must do so in his first race round a bend.

Never worse than fourth in ten races, including winning the Gimcrack Stakes as a juvenile, he developed into a top-class sprinter in his second season, winning two Group 3s at Ascot, where he also ran Caravaggio to less than a length and a half in the Commonwealth Cup.

Having just failed to catch Ertijaal on his Meydan reappearance in February, Blue Point was spot-on for Dubai World Cup night, and trainer Charlie Appleby believes he has carried his well-being into this latest test in unknown territory.

Appleby, whose string is on a hot streak of 47 per cent winners in the last fortnight, said on Saturday, after Blue Point had completed his preparation with a steady canter round Sha Tin’s all-weather circuit: “I’m very pleased with him. I liked the way he changed leads round the bend on the turf track on Friday, and although it’s different at racing pace, I’m encouraged.”

As to pace and positioning in the nine-runner field, in which Blue Point has drawn gate six, Appleby said: “I hope they go fast because that should suit him, but if not, he’s made the running before.”

Charlie Appleby: has his team in excellent formCredit: Chris Bourchier

Blue Point will be accompanied by Fine Needle (Yoshitada Takahashi/Tommy Berry), the first runner in Hong Kong for Godolphin’s Japanese operation, who has the edge over his running mate in having won a Group 1 on his last start, where he beat Let’s Go Donki – sixth to Mr Stunning in the Hong Kong Sprint last December - by a nose.

The rest of the field is made up of locals, of whom trainer John Size saddles five of the seven, headed by likely favourites, the established five-year-old Mr Stunning and the fast-emerging four-year-old Beat The Clock.

They dead-heated for second, a neck behind stablemate but now-out-injured DB Pin, in January, and then Beat The Clock came out on top by a neck when in receipt of a 5lb weight advantage that has disappeared this time round.

Champion jockey Joao Moreira stands by Beat The Clock, while young Australian Sam Clipperton comes in for the ride on Mr Stunning after intended partner Nash Rawiller fell foul of the racing authorities on Wednesday and still awaits the outcome of possible criminal investigation by the local independent corruption commission.

Size also runs Amazing Kids (Olivier Doleuze), who seems to be better at a shorter trip, and Thewizardofoz (Karis Teetan), who probably wants farther, as well as another emerging talent in Ivictory, for whom Zac Purton, on fire with five winners at Happy Valley on Wednesday, is a fascinating first-time booking.

Also at Sha Tin on Sunday

Audemars Piguet QEII Cup (Group 1) 1m2f, 3yo+, 9.40am GMT

The star turn on newly-styled Champions Day, which features the three Group 1 races on the same card for the first time, has developed into a Hong Kong v Japan affair, and a small-field one at that, which may go some way to determining local Horse of the Year honours.

The race went to Japan last year through Neorealism, but neither Al Ain (Yasutoshi Ikee/Cristian Demuro) nor Danburite (Hidetaka Otonashi/Tommy Berry), who have been regular and close opponents on home territory is, as yet, in that class.

In contrast, dual Group 1 winner Time Warp (Tony Cruz/Zac Purton) and Hong Kong Derby hero Ping Hai Star (John Size/Joao Moreira), not to mention the enigmatic Pakistan Star, are all rated superior to Hong Kong’s last race winner Werther, who had also won the Derby on his way to this event in 2016.

Time Warp has put in two astonishing front-running performances over Sunday’s trip in recent months, winning the Hong Kong Cup in December and becoming the first horse to dip under two minutes over the track in February. In between, though, he has run two shockers over a mile. Trainer Cruz puts his below-par efforts down to the distance; jockey Purton remains puzzled.

Ryan Moore brought Ping Hai Star from last-to-first to complete a four-timer in the Derby on his opening effort over farther than a mile, beating Champions Mile contender Singapore Sling by almost two lengths, and substitute Moreira will probably look to repeat the tactics. Worryingly, but maybe realistically, trainer Size has voiced concerns whether Ping Hai Star will be able to replicate that lung-busting effort.

Trainer Tony Cruz retains great faith in Pakistan Star, whose reputation rests as much on YouTube views of his early last-to-first efforts as much as more recent start-stop appearances. William Buick is the latest to try his hand at getting the best out of the German-bred runner, after Silvestre de Sousa cried off for travel reasons and Kerrin McEvoy was stood down by the doctors from flying after suffering an ear infection.

Champions Mile (Group 1) 1m, 3yo+, 8.20am GMT

Opened to international runners in 2005, the race has attracted 32 overseas contenders from eight countries, and two winners, in that time. Not this year, though.

Competition to follow South Africa’s Variety Club in 2014 and Japan’s Maurice two years later has evaporated, leaving a wholly local affair, in which trainers John Moore and John Size will bid to enhance their already impressive records.

Moore, who has compiled six wins since 2007, relies on Beauty Generation (Zac Purton), narrow winner of last December’s Hong Kong Mile and more recently the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup, while Size, for whom last year’s winner Contentment was his third, saddles Western Express (Sam Clipperton), who was beaten in both those events.

Beauty Only (Tony Cruz/Neil Callan), the 2016 Hong Kong Mile winner and a close second in this race last year, ended a long run of moderate form when landing the Charmain’s Trophy earlier this month.

Seasons Bloom (Danny Shum/Joao Moreira) was only fourth in the Hong Kong Mile but came back to take the Stewards’ Cup and has avoided QEII Cup contender Time Warp, to whom he finished third, beaten a length, in record time on his last start.

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