Kiwi bred four year-old Sky Darci was last seen winning the Hong Kong Derby (2000m) at Sha Tin back in March and he returned to that venue on Sunday to win the Group III Lion Rock Trophy Handicap (1600m).
Trained by Caspar Fownes and ridden by Joao Moreira, the Darci Brahma gelding started favourite and scored a head win over Zoustar’s Healthy Happy, who was gallant in defeat.
“On paper it looked a nice comeback race for him, 115 (pounds) on his back and a nice soft draw (barrier three). He landed in the spot we thought he would be, just relaxed and came out and you can see what he’s got,” Fownes said after Sky Darci withstood a fierce challenge from Healthy Happy, who lifted bravely after being headed by the winner.
“Obviously the second horse (Healthy Happy) is a horse we respected coming into the race because we didn’t think there was much pace and obviously, he gave us quite a scare the last 100m.
“He’s a nice horse, the second horse. He’s probably one that’s going to go on with it.
“At the end of the day, we’re very happy to bring him back from the Derby. There’s always pressure on you to get these horses to come back and perform.”
Sky Darci will now work towards the HK International meeting in December, but may revert to sprinting for that long term goal.
“It looks like we’ve got something to work with going forward to December. He’s a good horse and he’s probably still got another length and a half to two lengths in him over the next 12 months. If he can do that, all of sudden he’s a serious and proper horse,” Fownes said, hinting at taking a path which avoids clashing with superstar Golden Sixty over a mile.
“He’s a sprinter-miler in my mind and he’s showing us that, so we’ll just try to pick the best possible options and avoid the champions.
“He’ll come back to have a 1200 metre run early in the (2021/22) season, so we’ll just see what he does there. He’s versatile and he should be a bigger and better horse with a couple of months of the summer break under his belt.”
Sky Darci was purchased out of Highden Park’s 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft by Mr B Kwan for $160,000 and has the great record of seven wins and three placings from 13 starts.
Sky Darci is a half-brother to Group II Brisbane Cup winner Chocante and is one of five winners from unraced O’Reilly mare Strictly Maternal, a grand-daughter of Group III winner Red Chiffon.
