Aussie bred sprinters ran the trifecta in the Group III Bauhinia Sprint Trophy (1000m) at Sha Tin on Sunday with the winner Whizz Kid a brand new stakes-winner for Woodside Park Stud‘s Shalaa (IRE) and the first three home all have siblings for upcoming sales.
Trained by Tony Cruz and ridden by Harry Bentley, Whizz Kid was winless last year albeit never beaten far but with a gear change of a visor replacing blinkers the five year-old gelding posted a career best performance to win by a length over Invincible Sage (Thronum) and Packing Treadmill (Manhattan Rain).
Cruz, who previously won the HK$4.2 million feature with champion sprinter Silent Witness in 2004 and 2005, praised Bentley’s ride after he allowed Whizz Kid to stride forward and sit outside Victor The Winner before taking a lead he would never surrender, clocking 56.86s.
“He’s been a great horse for the stable, but I must give the credit to Harry Bentley. He rode a perfect race. I told him to jump and go with the flow, and he did exactly that,” Cruz said.
“I’ve been trying everything on him and that’s the only thing (visor) that works. It worked today. He’s a healthy horse and has never been a headache. He’s honest and he’s easy to train.
“I thought Happy Valley was his track, but with the programme, I had no option but to go for this race. Otherwise, there’s nowhere else to go. I gambled on it, tried something different and it turned out good.”
Whizz Kid was bred by Arrowfield in partnership and was withdrawn from Inglis Easter and sold privately as a yearling. He has the overall record of six wins and seven placings from 26 starts.
Arrowfield Stud will offer his half-brother by Castelvecchio from Santa Rocks at Magic Millions as Lot 132. A metro winner by Fastnet Rock from the family of US Group I winner and sire Harlan’s Holiday, Santa Rocks has had three foals to race and all are winners.
Whizz Kid is the 16th stakes-winner for Shalaa, who has eight entries for Magic Millions.
