23/4/2024  

Two-pronged attack gives Hall hope in G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize  

By Daryl Timms  

David Hall hasn’t underestimated the task he faces in Sunday’s (28 April) G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), but goes into the race with a two-pronged attack led by Invincible Sage and Flying Ace.  

With four individual Group One winners to contend with, vastly-improved Australian import Invincible Sage showed plenty of class at his last outing this month when he finished a close second to champion sprinter Lucky Sweynesse in the G2 Sprint Cup (1200m) at Sha Tin.  

Flying Ace, who wasn’t asked to do much when finishing second in a 1050m trial at Sha Tin on Monday (22 April), is a 1200m track specialist and finished third in the Sprint Cup.  

“It’s just great that they have reached that level now,” Hall said.  

“They both have the same 103 rating and they have had really good seasons and to finish up running in a Group One race, it’s a good achievement in itself.”  

Trying to separate the pair in the HK$22 million feature is a difficult task for Hall as he points out Flying Ace has been hampered by a lot of bad draws throughout the year but a favourable gate will allow the six-year-old to position up a few lengths closer than usual.  

Invincible Sage showed at his last outing that he can race handy on the pace and run out a strong 1200m.  

“There is really not that much between them to be honest,” Hall said.  

Invincible Sage had three consecutive victories as a two-year-old and finished his career in Australia with those three victories and two minor placings when he raced as Thron Bone.  

The four-year-old was placed twice in his first three Hong Kong races and then after a break strung together three consecutive 1000m victories.

Three of his past four runs have been at 1200m, a distance he won twice at in Australia.  

Hall believes Invincible Sage is a horse that has benefited from maturity, especially from Australian days to his first season in Hong Kong and then having a break and returning for another campaign.  

“He is a lot stronger in his body and his weight tells you that and he has just continued to improve and obviously he went to a peak performance at his last run with a bit of a gear change and perhaps a little bit of wet ground, maybe,” Hall said.  

“He is well and truly proven in it (wet ground) and I think it would be a big bonus for him and possibly that’s why it was his best performance the other day. He goes on both surfaces but he could have been influenced with a bit of cut in the track.  

“He has been a revelation this time in really and went ‘bang, bang, bang’ and has now made it to the top level.”  

Flying Ace should also have little problem in adopting to conditions if the track is rain affected on Sunday.  

With some tough company to encounter, Hall said his two runners had climbed the ranks to compete at the highest level, but says winning it is another big hurdle to jump.  

His last runner in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize was in 2019 when Little Giant finished third to Beat The Clock.    

Photo 1 David Hall is chasing Group 1 success on Sunday (28 April).  

Photo 2 Invincible Sage chases Lucky Sweynesse.  

Photo 3 Flying Ace should relish rain-affected conditions.