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Peniaphobia (130lb) reminded race goers of his Group 1 class and banished the blot of a below-par run three weeks earlier with a no-nonsense victory in the HKG3 Sha Tin Vase (Handicap) over 1200m at Sha Tin racecourse this afternoon.
An all-the-way winner of the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint at the course and distance last December, Peniaphobia toiled home 13th of 14 – a rare out-of-the-money finish – after helping to press a hot pace in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) on 1 May.
“I told everyone we’d see a different horse this time,” said trainer Tony Cruz. “He had a bit of mucus after the last race but this time he was a much fitter horse.”
The five-year-old enjoyed an ideal tow this afternoon as he notched his third course and distance triumph. Fabulous One (113lb) blazed from the gate under Derek Leung, enabling Peniaphobia and Matthew Chadwick to stalk the leader in second.
“The horse in front went so fast that it turned out to be a good pace maker for us,” said Cruz. “Matthew was able to just track him and everything went according to plan. It was a perfect race.”
Peniaphobia led turning for home, kicked two lengths clear and maintained momentum to the line as the race’s 1.9 favourite Amazing Kids (126lb), a seemingly unlucky fifth in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize last time, led the chasers to finish a length and a quarter second of eight for Joao Moreira and trainer John Size. The winning time was inside standard at 1m 08.35s.
“Last time he just couldn’t get a nice sit in and the pace was so hot he couldn’t get a second breather around the turn, so he was always going to falter,” said Chadwick. “But this time he had a nice sit and when I asked him he quickened nicely. He’s a good horse, so he kept going right the way to the line for me.”
A summer break is next on the agenda for the winner, who placed third in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint (1000m) at Meydan in March and ends his season with a record of two wins from eight this term.
“That’s it for the season now, he doesn’t want 1400m, so we’ll pack him up for next season and look ahead to defending his title in December,” said Cruz.
The Caspar Fownes-trained Domineer (123lb) ran third, two lengths behind the winner.