Werther drops in class for Lion Rock Trophy Handicap

Werther should appreciate a class drop to Group 3 competition Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse in the $382,395 Lion Rock Trophy Handicap, but he might not be so appreciative of the race’s 1,600-meter distance.

Werther won a Class 2 handicap over 1,600 meters in December 2015 while making his Hong Kong debut but is 0-1-1 from five subsequent starts over the distance (about one mile). At 2,000 meters to 2,400 meters, Werther would feel like a standout in the Lion Rock Trophy, but at the abbreviated trip and carrying the top weight of 133 pounds, Werther will have work to do, even as the best horse in this race.

The Lion Rock, the seventh of 10 Sunday races with a scheduled post time of 4:10 a.m. Eastern, includes another big name in Hong Kong racing, Beauty Only. The 7-year-old gelding excels at 1,600 meters but for most of his ongoing campaign has been a shadow of the horse he’d been during the 2016-17 Hong Kong season.

Beauty Only did finally spark to life a couple months ago and won the Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy before finishing fourth last out in the Group 1 Champions Mile, a performance good enough to earn a high placing Sunday.

The race is shorter than ideal for several entrants besides Werther, namely Prawn Baba, Packing Dragon, and Dinozzo. In addition to Beauty Only, trainer Tony Cruz – who swept a pair of Sha Tin group stakes last weekend – has two more entrants, the late-running Romantic Touch and the likely pacesetter, The Golden Age. The 4-year-old The Golden Age gets in at a feathery 113 pounds and could take this field a long way under Joao Moreira.

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