Dennis Yip Chor-hong has opted to spell Fast Network rather than set him for the Group Three Sha Tin Vase (1,200m), with connections weighing up a tilt at the Group One Sprinters Stakes (1,200m) in Japan later this year.
After a brilliant campaign highlighted by a Group Three National Day Cup (1,000m) victory and two Group One placings, Fast Network will be given a break before potentially making his overseas debut in September’s Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama racecourse.
“I think he needs a rest because he’s had some hard races and a long season,” Yip said.
“Maybe now he will rest and then early next season, we will try to find an overseas race – Japan maybe. We’re still thinking about it.”
Yip and Fast Network’s owners were keen to set the quality sprinter for the Group One Al Quoz Sprint (1,200m) at Meydan in March, but those plans were shelved because of the US-Israel war on Iran.
The Sprinters Stakes has been a popular option for Hong Kong trainers and owners in recent years, but only three international raiders have won the race, including Hong Kong’s Silent Witness (2005) and Ultra Fantasy (2010).
Fast Network bagged a career-best success in the Group Three National Day Cup in October before notching three placings behind champion sprinter Ka Ying Rising – two of which were at the elite level.
He was also a brilliant Class One winner in March and finished his campaign with a sound fourth behind Ka Ying Rising in last month’s Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1,200m).
Meanwhile, trainer Francis Lui Kin-wai has decided to set Cap Ferrat for a clash with Romantic Warrior in the Group One Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) on May 24 after his strong second in the Group One Champions Mile.
Craig Williams will again ride the son of Snitzel, who won last year’s Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) and thundered home from near last to be beaten a neck by My Wish in the Champions Mile with the top Australian jockey aboard.
“He ran very well. Of course, it’s going be tough against Romantic Warrior,” Lui said.
Cap Ferrat was second up in the Champions Mile after serving the mandatory three-month ban from racing for bleeding from both nostrils in November.
While the Champions & Chater will be his first test at 2,400m, he did run over the trip in Australia pre-import, finishing sixth in the Group One ATC Australian Derby at Randwick in 2024.
Lui will also be represented in the Champions & Chater by Winning Wing, who comes off a last-start third under equal top weight of 135lb behind Romantic Thor in the Group Three Queen Mother Memorial Cup (2,400m).
“His last run was just OK. He’s a handicap winner, not a Group winner,” Lui said of the four-time Sha Tin winner, who also ran third to Romantic Warrior in the Group One Gold Cup (2,000m) in February.
In other Champions & Chater Cup news, trainer Ricky Yiu Poon-fai has ruled Voyage Bubble out of defending his crown after the six-time Group One winner underwent further treatment on a capped elbow.
And Lui is expected to pull the pin on Hot Delight’s superb first campaign after the boom three-year-old’s first defeat on the weekend, finishing fourth to Patch Of Stars in the Class Two Sai Wan Shan Handicap (1,200m).
“He’ll probably take a break. He’s only young,” Lui said.
