Caspar Fownes is having an ordinary season by his own standards, but he must have come away from Sunday's Sha Tin meeting a happy man following the performance of Lord Dragon.
The three-year-old had gone well in two overseas trials for trainer Lance Noble and continued to progress with two nice lead-up hit-outs and eye-catching workouts at Sha Tin.
Lord Dragon was hard ridden to stay in touch, was still six lengths down while hitting the straight four deep, had to steady off a tiring Well Noted while trying to get to the outside at the 400m and stretched out nicely to get past favourite Glory Win for second - three-quarters of a length behind smart debut winner Electronic Fortune.
He is a son of the Danzig stallion Ishiguru, who was a Black-Type sprint winner of the Leopardstown Flying Five Stakes and Listed Curragh Belgrave Stakes in Ireland and the sire locally of nine winners from 15 starters, topped by Hot Shot (five Sha Tin wins up to 1,800m) and Mark Up (six wins up to 1,800m at both tracks).
His dam, smart Deputy Governor mare Temptation, was a winner of seven races up to 1,400m in New Zealand and half-sister to six winners, including talented Roysyn (by Bakharoff), a multiple Group winner of seven races from 1,400m to 2,400m - successful in the 1995 New Zealand Derby and ARC New Zealand Stakes - and Pastel (by Grosvenor), a Listed winner of four from 1,200m to 2,000m. She is also a half to the dam of local winners Charmgold, Viva Guy and Shatin Win Win.
Lord Dragon has a pedigree to be effective at both courses and will be precocious enough to be an able player over 1,200m to 1,800m. He has got plenty of upside to come off his opening mark of 52 and should eventually climb the ladder to Class Two.
