David Hall on weather watch as Invincible Sage steps into calmer waters
A Group One winner on a yielding surface, continued rain will play right into the five-year-old speedster's hands
David Hall's certainly not getting ahead of himself but Hong Kong's midweek wet weather is enough to get the trainer a little excited ahead of Invincible Sage's run in Sunday's Class One Kowloon City Handicap (1,200m).
With plenty of rain around Hong Kong on Thursday and the prospect of more to come, Invincible Sage could get the yielding conditions that allowed him to post his career-best performance when winning last April's Group One Chairman's Sprint Prize (1,200m).
'We've been here long enough to know that with Sha Tin you need to see it on the day before you get too excited, but if I'm looking at the forecast, I'm excited,' said Hall.
After failing to even run a place this term as Ka Ying Rising has taken the Hong Kong sprinting ranks by storm, Invincible Sage steps outside Group company for the first time in a year.
Invincible Sage takes the Chairman's Sprint Prize (G1)!
pic.twitter.com/qq25QnnSWy — IFHA's Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (@worldsbesthorse) April 28, 2024
The 110-rated galloper will carry 135 pounds but has gate one under Hugh Bowman in an eight-horse race featuring the likes of Lucky With You, Magic Control, Mugen and Taj Dragon.
'It's hard. He's a Group One winner but he did it in 1:09.33 and he's chasing horses now who are running 1:07.8,' said Hall.
'Unless he gets a wet track, you can't really be too tough on his performances.
'We thought we'd have a run at the handicap. With a little horse that's probably going to be difficult, but I think it's the right option for him.'
Invincible Sage was one of a handful of Hong Kong entries for the Group One Al Quoz Sprint (1,200m) down the Meydan straight on April 5's Dubai World Cup night, but the five-year-old's seventh in last month's Group One Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) put paid to those plans.
'We put him in there and I thought if he was genuinely a chance to be very competitive we'd go, but off his last run I think without the wet ground he's probably just short of that class and I still want to have a horse left, so we made the decision to stay,' confirmed Hall.
Also among Hall's eight runners this weekend is Encountered, who will be ridden by the in-form James Orman in the Class Two Carpenter Handicap (1,800m).
Another galloper who recently took a step back from Group grade, Encountered could only manage eighth in a Class One over the extended Happy Valley mile last start but the return to nine furlongs at Sha Tin looks likely to suit the six-year-old.
'I've taken the blinkers off him and put the tongue tie back on. He was a bit average at Happy Valley the other day but he's put in a couple of really good runs, so hopefully he brings his best form,' Hall said.
'Once again, it's a handicap and he's up the top, so he's got to carry the weight, but he's a big horse and he's capable of doing it if he can find his form on the day.'
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