News

Long Awaited Clash Will Happen At Kranji

6th May 2009

Racing And Sports - Chris Scholtz and Murray Bell - Wednesday, 6 May 2009

The showdown the racing world was waiting for in 2007 will finally eventuate at Kranji next week following confirmation that Hong Kong star Sacred Kingdom will be a rival for Takeover Target in the G1 KrisFlyer Sprint on May 17.

His narrow win in last weekend's G2 Sprint Cujp at Sha Tin was enough to convince his rider Brett Prebble that he will be a worthy rival for Australia's champion sprinter at Kranji.

Prebble and trainer Ricky Yiu conferred after Sacred Kingdom's fighting win and agreed that the horse once rated above Takeover Target as the best sprinter in the world should go to Singapore.

Sacred Kingdom was rated by international handicappers as the world's champion sprinter in 2007 and co-champion in 2008 on an international rating of 123 but suffered an injury last year.

Last weekend's win was his first since the corresponding race 12 months ago.

"A win is a win, so we'll take it," Yiu told the SCMP. "Obviously he was not as brilliant as he was at his best, but at least he's showed us that he's on the way back.

"I think that race should do him a lot of good. He's still coming right in the coat, so I think he can take a lot of improvement.

"Provided he pulls up well, and his health is fine, we will press on for Singapore."

Sacred KIngdom was set to meet Takeover Target in the Hong Kong Sprint in 2007 before the Australian star was pulled out due to a raging controvresy over treatment he had received after racing in England and Japan.

His trainer Joe Janiak vowed he would never take a horse to Hong Kong again and has stuck by that decision despite his gelding's annual overseas travels.

Prebble said Sacred Kingdom's win was "much better than it looked".

"He was probably ready for a 1000 metres race and that's what I would have recommended if there had been one programmed," Prebble said. "He hadn't had a trial and wasn't quite ready for 1,200 metres so he hasn't relaxed properly for me and raced too fiercely.

"He' really tried hard for me and there was a lot of merit in the win."

Hong Kong will also be represented by the John Moore-trained Inspiration in the KrisFlyer Sprint after he finished fourth to Sacred Kingdom last weekend.

"He just blew out in the final 200 metres, which we feared he would, but he's pulled up well, he's scoped clean so we're off to Singapore too," Moore confirmed.