Kurpany hopes to show dirt prowess in Sha Tin feature
There’s nothing in his form or pedigree suggesting Kurpany is a dirt horse, but Caspar Fownes, vying for leading trainer this Hong Kong season, sees fit to try Kurpany in the dirt feature Saturday at Sha Tin and leading rider Joao Moreira is set to ride the horse.
Kurpany was bred in France and made one start in Ireland before being imported to Hong Kong, where he has made 10 starts, winning three of them, all this season, including a last-out Happy Valley victory in a Class 2 handicap over 1,200 meters. That’s the class level and distance of race 9 on a Saturday card at Sha Tin, but Kurpany takes to the dirt for the first time while facing 10 rivals after the early scratch of Igniting.
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Kurpany is by Mayson out of One River, by Stormy River. On the dam’s side, the broodmare sire line is all French breeding, while the tail female line moves into English pedigrees, including Nijinsky, a distant relative but a stallion line that has found success in dirt racing. Mayson is by Invincible Spirit, who is by the Danzig stallion Green Dancer, but most of this side of the pedigree is turf-oriented as well.
Will Power is top-rated here at 100 and for the most part has been a steadily reliable Sha Tin dirt performer, but after winning a couple of races early this season, Will Power was a flat sixth in his most recent dirt start, a race at this class level and distance.
First post for this mixed-surface card is 1 a.m. Eastern.