Sky Field (Deep Field) faces a weighty task in Sunday’s Class 1 HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup Handicap (1200m) at Sha Tin when he makes his return at the first of 88 fixtures for the new season.
Trained by Caspar Fownes, the classy chestnut who was purchased out of Trelawney Stud’s 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling draft, has been allotted 135lb against nine opponents in the HK$3.465 million feature with six of these handed 117lb or less.
However, this challenge has left jockey Karis Teetan nothing short of excited as he prepares to partner the 2021 Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) winner for the first time on race day.
“You do have to respect young horses with a light weight but when I sat on him (Sky Field) last time – he gave me a lot of confidence and he gives you a good feel when you ride him, so I’m not too worried about the weight. I know it’s a question mark but I’m just looking forward to riding him now,” Teetan said.
Of Sky Field’s rivals at the bottom end of the scale, Keep You Warm (No Nay Never), Trillion Win (NZ) (Proisir) and Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse) have been assigned 113lb, with the latter returning from a strong maiden campaign in Hong Kong last season with five wins, an added 46 rating points and the accolade as 2021/22 Hong Kong Champion Griffin.
“At the end of the day he (Sky Field) is the best horse in the race, right? This is why he has the rating he has. He’s going to have to give a few young horses a bit of weight – who are coming up and in form – like Lucky Sweynesse, who has 113lb on his back.
“Yes, that will make a big difference but Sky Field felt really good in his trial and we’ll ride him how Caspar wants to get the best out of him,” Teetan said.
Since the HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup’s inception in 1997, eight winners have carried 115lb or less, while a further seven have carried between 116lb and 119lb (both figures inclusive). Of the winners at or above 120lb, there have been 10 across the 25 editions of the race with only two of these carrying 130lb or higher.
“I mentioned it to Caspar, to see who was going to ride him (Sky Field) but he offered it to me last week before he trialled and it’s a good opportunity to a ride a horse like him,” Teetan said.
“He’s run against better company than what he’s taking on now and he’s got plenty of quality and plenty of class, he’s trialled good and Caspar thinks the horse is ready for his first run and I also think the same.”
Sky Field has been to Conghua for a short stint between seasons and in last week’s barrier trial on Friday (2 September), the six-year-old caught the eye with a powerful first-past-the-post effort over 1200m on dirt in 1m 10.19s.
