Sacred Kingdom has not won first up for three years, but trainer Ricky Yiu Poon-fai is expecting the world champion sprinter to produce something close to his best in the Sha Tin Sprint Trophy tomorrow at his comeback run after a life-threatening colic attack.
Only a happy accident of timing enabled the seven-year-old to survive the colic, which struck as he prepared to board a flight to Japan in March and would likely have killed him had he already been on the plane to Nagoya. But Yiu is thrilled with Sacred Kingdom's well-being and indicated he would be disappointed to miss the quinella tomorrow.
'The only one I'm really worried about is the filly, Sweet Sanette. She is very good and she has a light weight, but I expect Sacred Kingdom to be first or second, even though he has the big weight and he hasn't raced since March,' Yiu said yesterday.
'He looks very healthy on the track in the mornings, his trial was very good and I think he will come back to the same form he was in at his peak. He had a very good rest and we took our time, but he is back to his normal training now.'
Of more concern were the foot issues which have been on and off for some time, but Yiu said a pad between the horse's hoof and his shoe had kept him comfortable while the problem was managed.
Sacred Kingdom's last win first time out in a campaign came in the same race in 2007, on his way to claiming the title of the world's best later that year.
