Sha Tin: Sky Darci begins campaign in shorter than preferred Celebration Cup

Sky Darci, winner of the 2021 Hong Kong Derby, makes his 2021-22 season’s debut Sunday at Sha Tin in the Group 3, $480,000 Celebration Cup Handicap.

Sky Darci carries 120 pounds, 13 fewer than his top-rated 9-year-old stablemate, Southern Legend, and breaks from post 3 under Joao Moreira in the 1,400-meter Celebration Cup. The Hong Kong Derby is a 2,000-meter race but Sky Darci has won over a distance as short as 1,200 meters.

“Even though 1,400 might not be his best distance, he’s got a fresh pair of legs at the moment, so I think he’s going to deliver his best,” Moreira told Hong Kong Jockey Club publicity. “I think he’s going to do very well this season. He’s one of those horses you get very excited about.”

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Trained by Caspar Fownes, Sky Darci was cleverly campaigned to a five-win 2020-21 campaign, finishing unplaced in the first two legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series before posting an upset in the Derby over a distance that might be longer than ideal. Favorably weighted stepping up to face Group stakes competition, Sky Darci finished his season with a win in the Group 3 Lion Rock Trophy going 1,600 meters and a second in the Group 3 Premier Cup at Sunday’s 1,400-meter trip.

Fownes is looking toward more important races later this year and hasn’t pushed Sky Darci into this comeback run, though Moreira said the gelding gave him a positive feeling in a recent training race.

Fownes gave a cold-eyed assessment of Southern Legend’s chances as the 133-pound highweight, saying he’d be pleased enough with a fourth- or fifth-place finish.

Also entered is Russian Emperor, who was second, beaten just a head by Sky Darci, in the 2021 Derby. An Irish import by Galileo, Russian Emperor almost certainly requires a longer distance than Sunday’s to produce a top performance.

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The Celebration Cup is carded as race 7 on a 10-race program that begins at 1 a.m. Eastern (watch and wager at DRFBets.com) and concludes with a salty Class 2 1,200-meter handicap.

Naboo Attack got a 10-point rating rise to 100 on the strength of a one-length win in a Class 1 handicap Sept. 5 at Sha Tin and carries top weight of 133 pounds in Sunday’s race. An Australian import trained by David Hayes, Naboo Attack was a sharp winner of his Hong Kong debut last May before physical issues forced him to the sidelines.

He’ll be tested Sunday by Killer Bee, who carries only 122 pounds as he steps up from Class 2 competition. Killer Bee, Moreira’s mount in the nightcap, has won four of his five career starts, was beaten a nose in his lone defeat, and as a recently turned 4-year-old on Southern Hemisphere time figures to have further improvement in him this season.