PURTON AND LUCKY SWEYNESSE PRIMED TO STRIKE IN THE GROUP 1 LONGINES HONG KONG SPRINT

By Darren Winningham | Friday, December 8, 2023

Turn the clock back twelve months and Zac Purton was hesitant to declare Lucky Sweynesse in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (Group 1) of 2022 as he felt Lucky Sweynesse needed time to mature. He did get himself into a winning position that day but was obstructed by a tiring runner leaving Purton with nowhere to go – another ‘that’s racing’ story.

Sunbsequent to that, true to Purton’s judgement, Lucky Sweynesse then came out and won his next six successive starts, posting three Group 1 wins in the Centenary Cup, the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup and the Chairman’s Sprint Prize on FWD Champion’s Day in April this year.

Since resuming from a spell this season, he has been racing against similar company, but due to the conditions of the races he has been unfavourably treated at the handicap weight conditions of those races.

Purton galloped Lucky Sweynesse on Monday and again on Thursday this week leading up to the LONGINES HKIR Sprint on Sunday after which Purton remarked: “I think he is going as good as he has this season. He has taken a little bit of time to get to somewhere near his peak”.

In summing up the season so far for Lucky Sweynesse, Purton suggested that there have been genuine excuses for him in all the runs where he has been defeated.

“First up he ran on a wet track which it is a surface he does not enjoy,” explained Purton. “In his second-up run he had to give away twenty pounds in weight to his opposition. In that race there were slow sectionals in front and the leader raced home in 21.4 seconds – under these conditions, it is hard to catch horses when they are running that time.

“In his last start he won where the set weights and the penalties conditions of the race meant that he was a bit better placed. They didn’t go out that fast and they sprinted home late. When you are giving a little bit of weight away and a little bit of a start it is always going to be hard. He got the job done, but not in his usual ‘wow’ factor that we are accustomed to seeing last season.”

Purton went on to say in relation to that last start win in the Group 2 BOCHK JC Sprint, “To the eye the win didn’t look that impressive, it wasn’t as good as he was going last season, but I feel like he has improved since then. His gallop on Monday was incredible. His gallop on Thursday was good, and his coat has really turned - it is glowing, and he is getting the same mannerisms that he had last season when reeling off all those wins.”

In summary Purton said. “He may not be at his best where he was last season, but he is somewhere near that and I think he is well placed in this race”.

Lucky Sweynesse drew barrier 5 in the field of ten runners in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (Group 1) with prize money of HK$26 million on offer.

Purton will be looking to win this race after a long period between holding up the trophy in 2016 when Aerovelocity won.

When comparing the previous Hong Kong sprint champion Aerovelocity against Lucky Sweynesse Purton believed that Lucky Sweynesse maybe is just marginally better as a sprinter. However, it is difficult to line them up when you compare horses in different eras against the opposition that they faced at the time.

Like his cap said at trackwork morning “THE KING” is back and is looking to reclaim his throne in this race with this exciting Manfred Man trained sprinter – Lucky Sweynesse.

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