The cancellation of Wednesday’s Happy Valley meeting proved a blessing for jockey Derek Leung, who seized the chance to put Lucky Sweynesse through his final serious gallop ahead of Sunday’s G1 Sprinters Stakes (1200m) at Nakayama. As Typhoon Ragasa lashed his home city with torrential rain and gale force winds, Leung was enjoying a sunny day in Japan after rescheduling flights following the weather-affected meeting at Sha Tin on Sunday. “That was his final gallop before the race so I am grateful for the opportunity, if it wasn’t for the typhoon I would have come on Friday and just ridden slow work,” Leung said. “So this is a real bonus. I got a feel for the track and to see how the horse would handle it.” Lucky Sweynesse, a Group 1 winner who missed more than a year after a fetlock injury and subsequent surgery in 2024, has slowly built back into fitness and form. The seven-year-old returned with two runs late last season and then chased home the world’s top-rated sprinter Ka Ying Rising on Hong Kong’s opening day earlier this month. Leung was impressed with how the gelding worked over Nakayama’s unique contours and famous final rise in a gallop, but wasn’t surprised, given how the horse handled the even tighter turning Happy Valley course early in his career. “The racecourse itself is beautiful and of course it is a very short straight, but the last corner isn’t as sharp as Happy Valley so he will handle it,” he said. “He won at Happy Valley three times and raced well there as a younger horse. And he handled the uphill too – we just gave him a nice gallop – he handled it very well.” Trainer Manfred Man was on hand as well – both he and Leung are looking for their first overseas success after some previous placings. The trainer kept his instructions to Leung simple, knowing that if Lucky Sweynesse can reproduce something approaching his best on Sunday he has a live chance, but also that squeezing him on the training track isn’t likely to bring that result. “Manfred just told me ‘nothing fancy, just let him feel the track, let him be comfortable,’” Leung explained. “We know how he performed last time, it’s just about keeping him fit and well – we don’t want to overcook him in the morning, it is about letting him enjoy it.” Man also booked Lucky Sweynesse for some paddock schooling in the spectacular Nakayama parade ring.