A double dose of Power will hit Hong Kong on Friday morning when
Ireland's leading speedsters Sole Power and Slade Power touch down at Chek Lap
Kok airport ahead of the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin on
Sunday, 8 December.
The Edward Lynam-trained duo will bid to secure a first European victory
in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), in which last year's winner Lord
Kanaloa will attempt to follow-up for Japan and snare a sixth career G1
success: only Falvelon (2000 & 2001) and the great Silent Witness (2003
& 2004) have won the race back-to-back.
With international G1 scorers like Hong Kong's Lucky Nine and Jwala from
Britain alongside top local sprinters such as Eagle Regiment, Charles The
Great, Frederick Engels, Go Baby Go and Sterling City, The Turf World
Championships' 14-runnerspeed test promises to be a cracker.
"The LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint has not been the best race for the
Europeans but if you don't try, you won't succeed," said Lynam, who
saddled Sole Power to run ninth behind Lucky Nine in the 2011 edition.
His stable stalwart is no stranger to overseas travel. Sole Power's last
start in Ireland came back in August 2011 and his 18 runs since then have taken
him on regular excursions to Britain, as well as Hong Kong, France and twice to
Dubai. The four-year-old Slade Power is facing his first long-haul assignment.
"Slade Power and Sole Power left the yard on Wednesday (November
27) and are on their way to Hong Kong. They are in good form and the trip over
should not be a problem," said Lynam of his stars, who both sport the
colours of owner Sabena Power.
"You just hope they travel well and perform to their best on the
day. They are going over there very fit - all their main work is done and they
will just keep ticking over. The main thing is to keep them healthy and well
and make sure they do not get dehydrated."
Lynam, who trains his string in County Meath, has successfully plotted
two major raids on Britain this season with his stars and is hoping to rewrite
the record book that shows Britain's Benbaun in 2006 as the only European
raider to have made the frame in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint.
Sole Power, the long-time stable stalwart, notched his second career G1
in the King's Stand Stakes (1000m) at Royal Ascot in June - his first came in
the Nunthorpe Stakes at York in 2010. The emerging Slade Power earned a
deserved big one in the G2 British Champions Sprint (1200m) at Ascot in October
to cap an eight-race campaign that yielded three wins and two G1 placings -
second in the Haydock Sprint Cup (1200m) and third in the July Cup
(1200m).
"Slade Power came out of Ascot really well and there was not a
bother on him. I thought it was a good, tough performance on ground that would
have been softer than ideal. He only sweats up going down to the start. I would
be more worried if he didn't because that's just him. He will love the ground
in Hong Kong as he ran very well in the July Cup (third) on fast ground.
"Sole Power ran well in the Abbaye (sixth) on ground that was too
soft for him, and he will also love the ground out there."
Whilst Slade Power has proven adept at 1200m and around a left-hand
turn, Sole Power has something to prove on both fronts. All of the
six-year-old's seven career wins have been achieved down a straight 1000m and
of his six attempts at 1200m, his only two placed efforts came back in his
juvenile days in 2009.
"We just hope that as he is a bit older and wiser he will get the
trip. He ran well in the July Cup (fifth) over six furlongs this summer and
with more luck he would have finished in the first three," observed Lynam.
"They have both earned the right to run so we will give it a go and
are very happy with them. Providing they get a nice draw, I would be expecting
good performances from both of them."
To find out more about the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, The
Turf World Championships, visit:
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