Paul O’Sullivan hopes the return to Happy Valley today for Lobo’s Legend will be a winning move as the South African-bred shoots for a first Hong Kong win at his 21st try.
The six-year-old will make his second start for the Kiwi handler in section two of the Class 3 Belcher Bay Handicap (1200m), having transferred stables during the off-season.
The race is off at 16h15, SA time.
Lobo’s Legend wins the Gr1 SA Classic – he has struggled in Hong Kong (Pic -JC Photos)
His first run for O’Sullivan brought a fast-closing effort down the Sha Tin straight under Neil Callan who is set to partner him again.
“If you look through his form, he’s placed in Class 3 at Happy Valley over 1200 metres, and that time he jumped from gate 10 and was beaten by a neck; traditionally there’s a lot of speed on in these races and if they run along like that again he’ll be closing pretty quickly late,” O’Sullivan said.
“I thought it was a good run (first-up) – he probably needed another 50 yards as he ran out of runway a little bit but I thought it was a good run and he’s trained on from there.”
Lobo’s Legend was a Gr1 winner pre-import, scoring in the SA Classic at Turffontein, and while he has not come close to repeating that peak in Hong Kong, O’Sullivan is confident his charge has the ability to mix it in his current grade.
“He’s not going to get as quite far back as he would if he had drawn wide, but if he can hold a spot three back on the fence and its run well and he gets the breaks then he should be competitive,” the trainer said.
Wednesday’s eight-race fixture at Happy Valley kicks off at 13h15 with the Class 5 Sheung Wan Handicap.
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