Mr Stunning vs. Beat the Clock again in Sprint Cup

In their lone meeting, the Hong Kong sprinters Mr Stunning and Beat the Clock were inseparable. They finished in a dead heat for second, a neck behind D B Pin, in the Group 1 Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin on Jan. 28.

The next Group 1 sprint at six furlongs at Sha Tin is the $2.038 million Chairman’s Sprint Prize on April 29, a race in which Mr Stunning and Beat the Clock are the first two choices in future-book betting. They will have their final prep race in Sunday’s Group 2 Sprint Cup at six furlongs at Sha Tin.

Mr Stunning is expected to be a slight favorite in the $509,619 Sprint Cup. A 5-year-old gelding, Mr Stunning had a three-race winning streak interrupted in the Centenary Sprint Cup, where he led in the final sixteenth before being caught by D B Pin.

Trained by John Size, Mr Stunning won the most prestigious race of his career in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint against an international field at Sha Tin in December.

Size also trains Beat the Clock, a 4-year-old gelding who followed his second in the Centenary Sprint Cup with a second-place finish, by only a head, in the Group 1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup at seven furlongs on Feb. 25. Beat the Clock was unlucky to lose the Centenary Sprint Cup, breaking awkwardly and racing in traffic.

Sunday’s Sha Tin program includes the Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy, a $509,619 race that is a prep for the Group 1 Champions Mile on April 29.

Beauty Generation, who won the Silver Jubilee Cup over Beat the Clock, is rated as a leading contender along with Fifty Fifty and Time Warp.

Beauty Generation, who is trained by John Moore, won the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile in December, but was a troubled seventh in the Group 1 Stewards Cup at a mile on Jan. 28. A 5-year-old gelding, Beauty Generation tends to race near the front.

Time Warp is the future-book favorite for the $2.29 million Champions Mile later this month. Trained by Tony Cruz, Time Warp led throughout the Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on Feb. 25.

A potential speed duel between Beauty Generation and Time Warp will help Fifty Fifty, who was second in the Stewards Cup and third in the Silver Jubilee Cup.

Fifty Fifty, who has won five of nine starts in his career, won the Group 3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup at seven furlongs on Jan. 1 in his group stakes debut, finishing a half-length in front of Beat the Clock.