From SCMP.....
Sacred Kingdom gets off to a shaky start
MURRAY BELL
Champion Sacred Kingdom was unimpressive on the track and then failed to gain a veterinary clearance for his first venture overseas in a day of unexpected pre-season drama at Sha Tin yesterday.
The world's champion sprinter finished seventh of 10 runners behind Jolly Good Fortune in the first of seven barrier trials on the all-weather track, with Ricky Yiu Poon-fie's new stable rider Weichong Marwing getting a disappointing first feel of the star.
Later, the Jockey Club's head of veterinary and international liaison, Brian Stewart, failed Sacred Kingdom after a physical appraisal, deeming the 2007 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint hero to be lame in the right front foot. After that shock, Yiu's stable vet Bronte Forbes was consulted and he identified the cause of the problem.
"It's a stone bruise, and I don't believe it will effect his preparation for the Sprinters Stakes in Japan," Yiu said.
"I only wanted the horse to have a quiet trial this morning and I instructed Weichong along those lines, so I was not surprised to see him back in the field. But he didn't do a lot in the final stages and my first thought was that the trial was just fair."
Marwing, the renowned South African riding ace who boasts a glittering big-race record, said Sacred Kingdom "felt OK" but he did not want to let the Encosta de Lago gelding down on a track that was cut up following overnight rain and many gallops earlier in the morning.
Ironically, the official veterinary inspection was not about Sacred Kingdom's foot soreness. Yiu explained that Sacred Kingdom had experienced an unrelated lameness in his near hind leg earlier in the summer and the official veterinary inspection was supposed to certify him as being clear of that issue for the Japan Racing Association (JRA).
"It sounds worse than it is," Yiu stressed. "I really don't think it will be a problem. After talking with Bronte, I think the horse will only miss two days work."
Sacred Kingdom is being set to emulate the great Silent Witness, who returned to racing in the autumn of 2002 with a stunning win in the Group One Sprinters Stakes (1,200m) at Nakayama racecourse. This year's renewal of the feature sprint will be on October 5.
Yiu originally thought he might run Sacred Kingdom in the Group Two Centaur Stakes over 1,200m at Hanshin on September 14, as a lead-up to the Sprinters Stakes, but ultimately decided against it.
Yiu said Sacred Kingdom will now have a barrier trial on turf over 1,000 metres down the straight at Sha Tin on September 16 as his major piece of work before departing for Japan.
The JRA issued six international invitations for the Sprinters Stakes but only two - Sacred Kingdom and eight-year-old British sprinter Les Arcs - have accepted.
Apart from Silent Witness' stunning performance to win the Sprinters Stakes in 2005, Australian raider Takeover Target lifted it the following year as well.
The Centaur Stakes and Sprinters Stakes are the fifth and sixth legs of the Global Sprint Challenge for 2008.
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