Australian breeding hit a high in Hong Kong on Sunday with a trifecta result in the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin.
Beat The Clock (Hinchinbrook) held off the fast finishing Mr Stunning (Exceed And Excel) while Winner’s Way (Starcraft) filled third.
Beat The Clock stormed to the lead at the 150m mark and then had to dig deep to edge out Mr Stunning, who had relegated Beat The Clock to third when they last met in the G1 Hong Kong Sprint last month.
The Centenary Sprint is Beat The Clock’s first success at Group One level, but the 5YO has been the model of consistency for trainer John Size winning seven of his 18 starts plus 11 placings for nearly $HK23 million ($A4.1 million).Beat The Clock is third G1 winner among 16 stakes winners by ill-fated Yarraman Park Stud stallion Hinchinbrook.
Bred in NSW by Jilly Henderson, Beat The Clock was offered by Yarraman Park at the 2015 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale where he was knocked down to Prima Park Bloodstock for $70,000.He then was offered by Prima Park at the 2015 New Zealand Bloodstock 2YO Ready To Run Sale at Karaka where he was knocked down to Bill Mitchell for NZ$200,000.
Beat The Clock is out of the Group placed 2YO Flion Fenena and is closely related to multiple Group winner Silent Impact. Flion Fenena has a weanling filly by Your Song and was covered last spring by Smart Missile.Mr Stunning was a $110,000 weanling while Winner’s Way – a Group winner in Hong Kong last year – was sold for $55,000 at the 2014 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale.
