Southern Legend makes Happy Valley return in January Cup
Long before he won consecutive runnings of the Group 1, $1.5 million Kranji Mile in Singapore in 2018 and again last May, Southern Legend began his Hong Kong career with two wins at Happy Valley Racecourse in 2017.
Now 7, Southern Legend will race at Happy Valley for the first time in a year in Wednesday’s Group 3 January Cup at 1 1/8 miles. Southern Legend was sixth in the 2019 January Cup and faces three other runners from that field in Wednesday’s race, including Simply Brilliant and Insayshable, who were first and third, and Eagle Way, who was 10th.
Since the 2019 January Cup, those runners have had mixed results. Southern Legend has been the most productive. Aside from the successful trip to Singapore, Southern Legend won the Group 3 Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse at 1 1/8 miles at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong in November.
Trained by Caspar Fownes, Southern Legend will carry topweight of 133 pounds in the $418,345 January Cup, the only group level race contested at Happy Valley. The other group-level races in Hong Kong are held at Sha Tin.
Similar to his primary rivals in the January Cup, Southern Legend was comprehensively beaten on the international day at Sha Tin on Dec. 8, finishing eighth in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase at 1 1/2 miles.
Time Warp, who will carry 125 pounds in the January Cup, was eighth in the Hong Kong Cup at 1 1/4 miles the same day. Eagle Way (120) was 10th in the Hong Kong Vase, while Simply Brilliant (120) was 10th in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile.
Of those runners, Southern Legend is the only winner at the current Hong Kong season, which began in September. Time Warp is quick and is likely to set the pace, which could work in favor of Southern Legend, a stalker.
The January Cup drew a field of nine, including Sacred Capital, who is based in nearby Macau and was fourth in the Sa Sa Ladies’ Handicap in his first start in Hong Kong.
Sacred Capital (118) will be ridden by leading rider Joao Moreira. Zac Purton, second in the standings four wins behind Moreira, rides Southern Legend.
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