Photo: HKJC
Caspar Fownes is banking on consistency and a bit of luck when Sky Field lines up in Sunday week’s Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m).
“I’m sure he’ll give us a big run, he was a bit unlucky last start,” Fownes said. “I think once we get to the ‘A’ Course with him that he’s definitely going to be a first-three chance on the big day.”
Stepping out for a barrier trial on Tuesday morning, the Deep Field gelding looked in fine fettle under Blake Shinn, pulling fiercely to clock a hard-held 1m 10.76s.
“It backfired a bit, I put the cups (blinkers) on him in the hope that he would come out and switch off but he wanted to do his own thing, although it doesn’t matter, he’s a very fit horse and he’s a very consistent horse,” Fownes said of the five-year-old.
A winner at Group Three level in last season’s Premier Cup Handicap (1400m), Sky Field also finished third in the Gr.1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) and Sha Tin Vase (1200m).
“No blinkers in the big race, he won’t have the blinkers on - he’s a fit horse and he’ll be running well,” Fownes said.
Sky Field boasts two placings this term, first-up he was a narrow second in the Gr.3 National Day Cup Handicap (1000m) before his last-start third to Lucky Patch in the Gr.2 BOCHK Jockey Club Sprint (1200m).
A regular presence at Conghua, Sky Field will remain at Sha Tin with Fownes until the race.
“He’s here at Sha Tin, we have 10 days left and we’re all here now, so it’s game on,” Fownes said.
Sky Field was purchased for $175,000 out of Trelawney Stud’s 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 draft. -HKJC