Waikuku tries to make amends in this year's Chairman's Trophy

Waikuku is the potential standout in the Group 2, $570,000 Chairman’s Trophy, but two of the big names bowed out of the co-featured Group 2, $570,000 Sprint Cup on the Easter Monday card at Sha Tin in Hong Kong.

Classique Legend bled slightly during a workout on Wednesday at Sha Tin, resulting in an automatic three-month ban on racing in Hong Kong. Classique Legend was imported from Australia, where he won the Everest in 2020, to compete in major Hong Kong sprint races this season but finished 11th in the Hong Kong Sprint, his local debut, and now is likely to return to Australia without racing again in Hong Kong.

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Hot King Prawn, a Group 1-winning sprinter during this Hong Kong season, won’t race again until next fall, at earliest, trainer John Size told Hong Kong Jockey Club publicity this week.

Size also trains Waikuku, who ran poorly at a short price in the 2020 Chairman’s Trophy over 1,600 meters, finishing sixth in his worst performance the last two Hong Kong racing seasons. Waikuku comes into Monday’s contest (Hong Kong has a traditional four-day Easter weekend, Friday through Monday) after a sharp victory Feb. 21 in the Group 1 Silver Jubilee Cup over 1,400 meters, a race run at level weights.

In the Chairman’s Trophy, Waikuku and Southern Legend carry 128 pounds, the rest of the field 123, and Waikuku, a late-running type, will be hoping for a fair pace. In January, he sizzled his final 400 meters in the Group 1 Stewards Cup but could only finish fourth because the leaders went such a slow tempo. With only five others entered in the Chairman’s Trophy, there’s no certainty the race will be run to suit. Ka Ying Star is the likely leader, and the capable Southern Legend should track the pacesetter and get first run on Waikuku.

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The muddle that forms the top end of Hong Kong’s sprint division is on full display in the 1,200-meter Sprint Cup, run at level weights, 123 pounds, with 13 entrants ranging in Hong Kong ratings from 116 (Wishful Thinker) down to 102 (Winning Dreamer). Voyage Warrior, rated 113, went to the front and never looked back capturing the 2020 Sprint Cup but has failed to crack a top-three placing in six subsequent starts. Top-rated Wishful Thinker drops from three Group 1 starts in which he made little impact and should appreciate cutting back in trip from 1,400 meters.

Eye-catching recent showings from 4-year-olds Wellington and Sky Field came in Class 1 handicaps where both horses were getting as much as 20 pounds from the top-rated runners. Size, with Hot King Prawn out of action, sends out Beauty Applause, who won consecutive 1,200-meter Class 2s at Sha Tin – the second under 131 pounds – before failing to run to form last out at Happy Valley.

First post for this 10-race program is 1 a.m. Eastern. You can catch all the action at DRFBets.com.