Aethero Faces Mr Stunning, D B Pin in Hong Kong Sprint

With Hong Kong's veteran sprinters in a bit of disarray and the international raiders perhaps a cut below recent standards, the door is open for 3-year-old local sensation Aethero in the Dec. 8 Longines Hong Kong Sprint (G1) at Sha Tin Racecourse.

The Sebring gelding trained by John Moore enters the fray with five wins from six Hong Kong starts. In his most recent effort, he was a rather easy two-length winner in the Nov. 17 Jockey Club Sprint (G2), a race that has produced the past five December winners.

That contest was his first graded stakes, but given the field included all of Hong Kong's best veteran sprinters, it had all the importance of a top-level event. And Karis Teetan, who rode him to victory, said before the Dec. 5 barrier draw he was more than impressed.

"He could be the best horse I've sat on," Teetan said. "Now it's a tougher task for him, but I think to beat him will be very difficult."

Zac Purton, who takes over riding duties from Teetan, has been dieting for seven weeks to make the 117 pounds assigned Aethero, a break of 6 pounds from most of his competition. He said the effort—"mostly eating fruits and vegetables"—has been worth it.

"I haven't seen a horse in my time in Hong Kong that's done what he's done so quickly," said Purton, who is battling with Joao Moreira for the Hong Kong riding title. "But he's not the finished product. He's got a lot to learn."

Aethero drew gate 10 in a field of 14, and if any of his older rivals should return to form, he might need every ounce of the weight swing.

Prominent in the local contingent is Mr Stunning, a 7-year-old Exceed And Excel gelding who won the Hong Kong Sprint the past two years. The Frankie Lor trainee has not won a race since the 2018 edition, however, and since then has had only limited action while recovering from a stress fracture. He was eighth in the Jockey Club Sprint with an excuse—it was his first start since April.

D B Pin, runner-up in the 2017 and 2018 editions of the December group 1 event, has a similar excuse for his sixth-place showing in the previous race. He has battled back from injuries both last year and this year and was having his first run since January for trainer John Size.

With those two arguably needing the start, the results of the Jockey Club Sprint might be viewed with skepticism. Still, the second- and third-place finishers from that race return—Hot King Prawn, who subsequently was sidelined after a bout of colic, and Beat The Clock, who nailed down the local sprint championship for the 2018-19 season with a win in the Chairman's Sprint Prize (G1) in April.

Hot King Prawn's trainer, Size, said his charge has emerged healthy from his surgery and performed well in his sole prep.

"He's an interesting horse for the race because he's the right age, and it's possible we haven't seen his best yet," Size said of the 5-year-old Denman gelding.

Teetan, who takes over riding duties, said he thinks Hot King Prawn is a live chance. After riding him in a trial race, Teetan said he told Size, "This is a real horse now. He's not a baby anymore. He's matured."

Hong Kong horses have won six of the past eight runnings of the Sprint—a string broken only by back-to-back wins in 2012-13 by Japan's star sprinter Lord Kanaloa. This year, the overseas contingent consists of only two—Danon Smash from Japan and In Her Time from Australia.

Danon Smash, a 4-year-old, looks to pick up where his sire, Lord Kanaloa, left off. He comes south after finishing fourth in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1) and third in the Sprinters Stakes (G1)—Japan's two grade 1 sprint events.

In Her Time, a 7-year-old mare by Time Thief, won the Black Caviar Lightning (G1) at Flemington in February but hasn't been able to replicate the effort in three subsequent outings.