Tycoon Resources chases fourth straight win in key Sha Tin test

This season has produced a cluster of three-year-olds good enough to win their first three starts. Winning four on the bounce is where it gets interesting.

Tony Cruz’s unbeaten Tycoon Resources is now in that space, with the promising youngster heading to Sha Tin on Wednesday looking to become the second three-year-old this season to string together four consecutive wins.

Not since Lucky Sweynesse in the 2021-22 season had a three-year-old won his first three starts in Hong Kong, but this campaign has produced a deeper crop. Three of this season’s four Champion Griffin contenders managed to win their first three, including Salon S and Hot Delight. Only Salon S was able to stretch the sequence to four.

That is where the line has started to get harder to cross. Hot Delight finished fourth when trying to extend his streak in his first Class 2 test, then bounced back to win his next start. Salon S’s winning run ended at start five in his first Class 2 assignment, when he too finished fourth, and he has since been put away until next season.

Tycoon Resources does at least avoid the immediate Class 2 squeeze, remaining in Class 3 as he chases four. Even so, the fourth-start test has proved a stumbling block for plenty of good three-year-olds, with Lucky Sweynesse finishing third when trying to extend his unbeaten run, Golden Sixty finishing 10th and Wellington sixth.

Historically, though, the jump in grade has not always been the deciding factor. According to Hong Kong database expert and analyst Sohil Patel, 18 three-year-olds have won their first three starts in Hong Kong since the start of the 2016-17 season, with eight stretching the sequence to four — a conversion rate of 44.4 per cent.

Of those who attempted to make it four in Class 2, three of six were successful. Among those who stayed in Class 3, five of 12 won again, a 41.7 per cent conversion rate.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓