Blue Point heads out to Hong Kong for Chairman’s Sprint Prize

Top sprinter Blue Point sparkled in his final piece of work at Godolphin Marmoom Stables, UAE, on Saturday morning, 21 April, ahead of travelling to Hong Kong for the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin on 29 April.

The four-year-old Shamardal colt, a late withdrawal from the G1 Al Quoz Sprint won by stable companion Jungle Cat at Meydan on March 31, is set to arrive in Hong Kong during the morning of Sunday, 22 April.

His trainer Charlie Appleby commented: “Blue Point was very pleasing in his work this morning and travels out to Hong Kong later today to finalise his preparations for the Chairman’s Sprint Prize.

“It was unfortunate that he missed the Al Quoz Sprint, but it appears that he banged his head somewhere and a post-race scope revealed a trace of blood in his nostrils.

“He was fine afterwards and we are looking forward to seeing him tackle a major international G1 sprint.”

The Chairman’s Sprint Prize, run over six furlongs on turf like the Al Quoz Sprint, will also feature another Godolphin runner in Fine Needle (Yoshitada Takahashi), who arrived in Hong Kong from Japan on April 19 following a nose success in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo, Japan, on 25 March.

Charlie Appleby added: “I have watched Fine Needle’s victory in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and it will be an interesting clash between him and Blue Point, together with some top locally-trained sprinters.”