John Size will weigh up a start in the Group 3 Lion Rock Trophy with Sky Jewellery after the comeback horse posted a strong Class 2 win in unsuitably wet conditions at Sha Tin yesterday.
Last season's champion griffin – Hong Kong racing's equivalent of rookie of the year – was ruled out of this season's Classic Series and a shot at the BMW Hong Kong Derby after suffering an exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, commonly known as "a bleed," which brings a mandatory three-month break from racing.
Since returning, Sky Jewellery has won two-from-two and will now have a rating approaching triple figures after handicappers assess his 1-3/4 length win against a strong field.
That would put the Lion Rock Trophy on May 31 in play but as usual the 13-time champion trainer was non-committal – even if he was effusive in his praise.
"We will get him home and take a look at him and then we will make a plan for the rest of the season," Size said. "He has recovered well but his condition is always something that is going to be there and that we are going to have to think about. But he has come back very strong and continued to go on with things from where he left off."
Adding to the merit of the win was the way the odds-on favorite handled the testing ground under Andrea Atzeni.
"He struggled a little bit in the ground but because of the horse he is, he was able to overcome it," Size said. "That is what good horses do, they overcome adversity to win."
Sky Jewellery is a rarity in Hong Kong – a homebred who has stayed with the man who bred him. Most horses are purchased by Hong Kong owners from races, barrier trials or yearling sales. Owner Tung Moon Fai, who also bred 2016 Classic Mile and Classic Cup winner Sun Jewellery, co-owned Sky Jewellery’s dam Rollout The Carpet, who won the 2012 New Zealand 1,000 Guineas.
“Mr Tung breeds quite a few horses and he sticks at it. And like most breeders he has to take the good with the bad, it can be a thankless exercise, but with this horse he might be repaid for many years of trying to breed a good horse,” Size said.
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
