Sky Darci bravely saw out a 2,000-meter distance longer than his best, holding off Russian Emperor by a head to win the $3.09 million Hong Kong Derby on Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse.
It took a perfect trip under Joao Moreira for Sky Darci, stamina concerns and all, to get home. Racing along the fence in fifth down the Sha Tin backstretch as Healthy Happy and Silver Express opened a big lead, Sky Darci fell into a golden run when Russian Emperor left the rail bending into the second turn. Moreira snuck up behind the leaders, found room at the 400-meter mark after turning for home, sent Sky Darci up to the front, and Sky Darci gamely preserved his lead to the line.
Russian Emperor, the tepid favorite and Irish import who already had raced over the 2,000-meter trip and beyond before being purchased and sent to Hong Kong, closed stoutly outside the winner, who was saved by the wire. From the back of the 14-runner field, Panfield rallied for third, three quarters of a length behind Russian Emperor, with Excellent Proposal, coming with a wide run from 13th, home fourth after posting the fastest final 400 meters, 23.11.
Sky Darci came home in 23.49, which was good enough to give Moreira and trainer Caspar Fownes their second Derby win. Fownes, who is leading trainer this season, won the race in 2010 with Super Satin. Moreira, Hong Kong’s leading rider, won in 2017 with Rapper Dragon.
Sky Darci was bred in New Zealand and purchased as an unraced prospect, known in Hong Kong as a griffin, and sent to Fownes in 2019. By Darci Brahma out of Strictly Maternal, by O’Reilli, Sky Darci had a useful 2019 – 2020 campaign, winning twice from five starts while kept to distances between 1,200 and 1,400 meters. This season, Fownes cleverly managed Sky Darci to three straight wins to begin his campaign, taking advantage of a major weight break when he boosted Sky Darci from Class 3 handicaps into a Class 1.
Sky Darci also managed a second-place finish in the Group 3 Chinese Challenge Cup on Jan. 1 and was the highest-rated 4-year-old racing in the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which began with the Hong Kong Mile on Jan. 24. But Sky Darci finished sixth there as the 3-1 favorite and did no better over 1,800 meters in the Hong Kong Classic Cup. Fownes then gave the gelding a spell at the Conghua Racecourse and training center on the Chinese mainland, and Sky Darci came back for the Derby with renewed vigor.