Target now on Southern Legend's back

Southern Legend has gone from being the hunter, upsetting Beauty Generation in the Group 1 Champions Mile last month, to the hunted, the likely favorite and 133-pound highweight in Sunday’s Group 3, $419,000 Lion Rock Trophy Handicap.

Southern Legend is one of 11 entrants in the Lion Rock, a 1,600-meter contest carded as featured race 9 of 11 on a card that starts at 12:15 a.m. Eastern.

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Seven-year-old Southern Legend has raced at or near the top of the Hong Kong ranks for three seasons, but might have been best known for three trips to Singapore that produced two wins in Singapore Group 1 races. Southern Legend had been scheduled for a fourth Singapore trip before COVID-19 scuttled those travel plans, and instead he stayed home and won his first Hong Kong Group 1, nipping legendary Beauty Generation by a nose April 26 in the Champions Mile.

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That race was run at level weights; under the handicap conditions Sunday, Southern Legend gives up as much as 20 pounds. Trainer Caspar Fownes has, to say the least, not feared experimenting with Southern Legend. The gelding shows Hong Kong starts ranging from about six furlongs to about 1 ½ miles, and Southern Legend has gone through many equipment changes. Two starts ago, Fownes stopped racing Southern Legend in a visor and began using a tongue tie. Vincent Ho rode Southern Legend for the first time in the Champions Mile and has a return call in the Lion Rock. Southern Legend breaks from post 9 and figures to settle into a stalking spot, with cover if he’s lucky, behind what ought to be a moderate tempo.

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Ka Ying Star was no match for Southern Legend in the Champions Mile, but gets four pounds from him Sunday and could try to wire this race.

Harmony Victory’s running line from his last start, a runner-up effort in a Class 1 handicap, looks impressive, but his late rally definitely benefited from getting through on the rail and finding a seam when he needed it at the eighth pole. He was simply outkicked in the final stages.

Dances With Dragon has raised his official rating from 85 to 104 by winning his last three turf races, but all those starts came at Happy Valley and Dances With Dragon has much to prove in a spot like Sunday’s.

Beauty Legacy isn’t totally implausible at a long price. His first Hong Kong season has mixed encouraging performances with a strong tendency to pull for his head much too hard in a race’s early stages, but he has shown some signs of improvement and gets 20 pounds from Southern Legend.

◗ Long winning streaks are rare in Hong Kong, but Fantastic Show will try for his fifth straight victory in race 11 Sunday. Fantastic Show was mired in Class 4 handicaps before the addition of blinkers turned his form around. His rating has risen from a mere 46 in February to 85 now, and he tackles Class 2 handicappers for the first time Sunday.