Jockey Neil Callan hopes giving up a Class Four winner at Happy Valley last week will turn out to be a nice investment in the winning of a Audemars Piguet QE II Cup on Sunday with Blazing Speed.
Callan suffered a minor foot injury in the three-jockey fall when Collagen broke a shoulder last Sunday week at Sha Tin, then sidestepped midweek rides last Wednesday, costing him a win on Secret Agent.
“The foot was more a discomfort than a real problem but one of the reasons I preferred to skip last week, even though I thought I had good rides at Happy Valley, was to make sure I was 100 per cent for this Sunday,” Callan said on Tuesday.
“It was a little bit of a risk. I’d missed Blazing Speed’s trial on the Tuesday morning due to the foot, and I worried that if I missed a race meeting as well that the Blazing Speed team might think I was some sort of doubt for this Sunday and get someone else. So I’m happy they stuck with me because I did it to make sure I would be right at my best on him and I will.”
Ridden by stable apprentice Alvin Ng Ka-chun, Blazing Speed finished second to Travel Renyi and Callan was happy with what he saw from the underrated gelding, who already has a Stewards’ Cup and a Champions & Chater Cup on his curriculum vitae.
The Tony Cruz-trained six-year-old would hardly be a shock winner of the HK$20 million Group One and does have some elements working in his favour, with Designs On Rome having to produce his top form after a trip to Dubai and Military Attack having had niggling problems for most of the season. “It’s not an easy race but it will come down to the right tempo and right run and it’s going to be a mix of all the ingredients of a race who comes out the winner,” Callan said.
“I thought there was plenty of merit in his last run when sixth in the handicap, giving a lot of weight to some smart up-and-coming horses and he battled on well. Feeling-wise, he felt to me like he was ready to produce his best again. “He’s had quite a few unlucky runs in his career but, when things have dropped right for him, he’s also proven he’s top class and right up to these races. You need a few things to go right but everyone does, the margins are only small in these top races.”
Blazing Speed’s four international QE II Cup rivals, Red Cadeaux, Smoking Sun, Criterion and Staphanos, only came out for a look around on the all-weather track (Tuesday) without doing much real work, but that would change (Wednesday) morning with trainer David Hayes coming in to supervise Criterion’s main gallop.
The only visitor giving any cause for concern is Japan’s Staphanos. The four-year-old lost 20 pounds in body weight on his flight over – nothing startling in itself as most horses will lose that much but he has not been attacking the feed bin with any enthusiasm since his arrival.
– scmp
