A rematch could be on the cards for Bel Sprinter and Krisflyer International winner Lucky Nine in the Group 1 HK$15m Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin in December.
Bel Sprinter winning the 2013 Galaxy at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.
The Jason Warren trained Bel Sprinter ran a superb race for a three length second to Hong Kong’s top sprinter Lucky Nine in the Group 1 S$1m Krisflyer International Sprint (1200m) at Singapore on Sunday.
Warren was more than satisfied with the effort of his Group 1 winning five year old after striking interference at the top of the straight, but rider Hugh Bowman said that the winner was just too good.
“It got a bit rough around the corner, but he still did a super job to run second,” said Warren.
“I thought he hit the line enormous. I’m very proud of him.”
“He begun all right but was just on the wrong leg for the first half of the race.”
“But I don’t think he would have beaten the winner.”
Bowman was also pleased with the run and the way he picked himself up after the scrimmage early in the straight.
“He’s run a terribly good race,” Bowman said.
“He took a while to get into his rhythm, but once he did I was comfortable. I’d just started to challenge when he got a hell of a bump, but it didn’t make a difference to the result. The winner was just too good.”
Last year’s Melbourne Cup winning jockey Brett Prebble collected his second Krisflyer International Sprint on Lucky Nine after winning in 2009 on Scared Kingdom.
“This win is more special than when I won on Sacred Kingdom,” said Prebble.
“I should have partnered Green Birdie for Caspar but I was in a battle for the jockey’s jremiership with Douglas Whyte at the time and decided to stay home.
“Coming to someone else’s backyard to win a race like this is something special.
“He was really positive tonight and when he got to the front I knew then that they wouldn’t be able to run me down.”
The Hong Kong based Australian rider is currently second on the jockey’s premiership with seventy-six wins, eight behind multiple premiership winner Douglas Whyte.
Warren will now spell Bel Sprinter and prepare him for the Spring with the option of returning to Asia for a another crack at Hong Kong’s leading sprinter Lucky Nine.
“The horse ran super,” Warren said.
“He did Australia proud. By the time he gets all of his quarantine done, it will be four or five weeks and he’ll be spelling and then we’ll get him ready for the spring.”
Warren is confident Bel Sprinter will come back even a better galloper in the Spring and said he was still learning.
“He will grow up a lot from this and will improve a stack,” Warren said.
“It was satisfying when they run so well.”
Bel Sprinter had promised for a couple of seasons that he was a top of the line sprinter and that potential came to fruition in the Autumn with a stunning win in the Group 1 $350,000 Canterbury BMW Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill in March.
