It was a case of lucky by name but not by nature for Lucky Bubbles as he staked his claim as king of the local speedsters and Hong Kong’s top seed for the December G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint with victory in today’s (Sunday, 23 October) G2 Premier Bowl (Handicap) at Sha Tin.

Brett Prebble partners the Francis Lui-trained Lucky Bubbles to victory in the Premier Bowl (Group 2, 1200m) at Sha Tin Racecourse today.
Brett Prebble partners the Francis Lui-trained Lucky Bubbles to victory in the Premier Bowl (Group 2, 1200m) at Sha Tin Racecourse today.
Francis Lui’s five-year-old was the leading light among a number of up-and-coming sprinters who were expected to challenge the established brigade, including the last two winners of the Hong Kong Sprint in Peniaphobia and Aerovelocity. And he didn’t let his swathe of fans down with his neck victory over another rising star in John Size-trained Amazing Kids, stopping the clock in 1m 08.29s.

“It was impressive,” jockey Brett Prebble said after he recorded the race’s second fastest finishing sectional of 22.19 seconds for his last 400m. “It was no surprise, though. I rode him to produce like that, and didn’t he produce? That was exactly what we hoped to see.”