Rapper Dragon faces older milers in Hong Kong's Chairman's Trophy

Rapper Dragon already has proven to be the best 4-year-old in Hong Kong, and Sunday he will try to beat top older milers in the Group 2, $514,870 Chairman’s Trophy at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Rapper Dragon became the first horse to sweep Hong Kong’s 4-year-old Classic Series, the local version of the Triple Crown, when he won the March 19 Hong Kong Derby by 1 3/4 lengths over Pakistan Star. That victory followed wins in the Hong Kong Classic Cup and the Hong Kong Classic Mile, the series’ first two legs; Rapper Dragon won all three races with relative ease.

The Classic Cup is contested at about 1 1/8 miles, the Derby at about 1 1/4 miles, but Rapper Dragon, according to his trainer John Moore, might most naturally fit the role of miler. He cuts back to that distance Sunday while getting a five-pound break in the weights from the four horses that have won at the Group 1 level.

“He’s going to be very hard to beat at the weights,” Moore told Hong Kong Jockey Club publicity. “With the ability he’s already shown he has, that five pounds he’s receiving from the Group 1 winners will make it tough.”

Joao Moreira, Rapper Dragon’s regular rider, has the mount in the Chairman’s Trophy, which goes as race 8 of 10 on the card and is a prep for the Group 1 Champion’s Mile on April 30.

Moore also trains three more in the Chairman’s Trophy, including Group 1 winners Werther and Helene Paragon. Helene Paragon won the Group 1 Steward’s Cup three starts ago in his most recent start over one mile, and should be one of the main threats to Rapper Dragon.

Werther needs more distance for his best and appears to be prepping for the 10-furlong Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, also on April 30.

Beauty Only failed to stay 10 furlongs in his most recent start and ranks near the top of the Hong Kong pecking order going one mile, though trainer Tony Cruz told the HKJC that Sunday’s race is a stepping stone to the Champion’s Mile and the Yasuda Kinen in Japan.

Co-featured on the Sunday program is the Group 2, $514,870 Sprint Cup over 1200 meters (about six furlongs) and contested around a right-handed turn. The two highest-rated sprinters in the race at 128 are Lucky Bubbles and Peniaphobia, and though the latter led all the way and beat the former two starts ago, it’s Lucky Bubbles who has raced more consistently this Hong Kong season. A winner at this class level to start his campaign, Lucky Bubbles has rallied for second in his last three starts, including a nose loss in the most important short race of the Hong Kong season, the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint. Peniaphobia is a need-the-lead type and has won only three times in his last 15 starts.

First post Sunday at Sha Tin is 1 a.m. Eastern, with the stakes races to be run at 4:05 a.m. Eastern (Sprint Cup) and 4:35 a.m. Eastern (Chairman’s Trophy).