Australian-bred Wellington shines in Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin
The Richard Gibson-trained Wellington (4 g ex Mihiri by More Than Ready) emerged as the latest star by Vinery Stud-based sire All Too Hard (Casino Prince) as the gelding produced an impressive display to lead home an Australian-bred trifecta in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (Gr 1, 1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday and in the process became the fourth Group 1 winner and 20th stakes winner for the stallion.
Last seen finishing fifth in the Sprint Cup (Gr 2, 1200m) on April 5, the gelding was placed in midfield by Alexis Badel, before being asked for his effort with two furlongs left to travel.
The four-year-old responded in fine style, eating up the lead Computer Patch (Exceed And Excel) had carved out, eventually soaring past him to win by a length and a half. Sky Field (Deep Field) was a further short-head away in third.
Wellington has now won seven of his ten starts, which has seen him pocket HK$18,424,690 (approx. $3,065,144) in career prize-money.
Gibson said the gelding would now be aimed at the Hong Kong Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m) in December.
“He’ll have a good rest and we’ll see you here in December,” said Gibson.
“It’s a great win for Hong Kong. It’s fantastic to see the fans back today and I’m just delighted for the owners. They were one of the first owners in my stable when I came here. They’ve been very loyal and supportive and it’s a great satisfaction to source and deliver such a great horse. He came from Australia and he was sourced from the trials.
“I always thought we would probably get to the winning enclosure but the road is a little bit rocky, life’s never easy but it’s great to get there in the end.”
The gelding was purchased by Lauriston Thoroughbred Farm for $70,000 at the 2018 edition of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the draft of his breeders Kia Ora Stud and he is the only out of the winning More Than Ready (Southern Halo) mare Mihiri, meaning he is bred on the same cross as fellow top-flight winner Forbidden Love and Group 3 scorer Outrageous.
Wellington’s third dam - Listed-placed Solo De Lune (Law Society) - produced Group 1 winner Cerulean Sky (Darshaan).
Cerulean Sky herself is the dam of Group 2 scorer Honolulu (Montjeu), while she is also the grandam of Group 2 winner Royal Bench (Whipper) and Group 3-winning pair Mayhem (Whipper) and Memphis Tennessee (Hurricane Run).
Meanwhile, Solo De Lune also produced 2008 Irish Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Moonstone (Dalakhani), the dam of Group 3-winning trio Nelson (Frankel), US Army Ranger (Galileo) and Nevis (Dansili) as well as stakes winner Stubbs (Danehill Dancer).
Solo De Lune is also the dam of Listed-winner L'Ancresse (Darshaan) and she in turn is the dam of Group 3 winner Master Of Reality (Frankel) and Listed Chamonix (Galileo).
Mihiri’s filly by Star Witness (Starcraft) was purchased by Tricolours Racing & Syndications for $85,000 at this year’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and after missing to Deep Field (Northern Meteor) in 2020, she was once again covered by All Too Hard last September.
Wellington joins the aforementioned Forbidden Love, Alligator Blood and Behemoth as the All Too Hard’s other Group 1 winners and he will stand the 2021 season for an increased fee of $33,000 (inc GST), having stood last season for a fee of $27,500 (inc GST).
