At Long Last, Hot King Prawn Gets His Group 1

Entering Sunday's G1 Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin, the likeable Hot King Prawn (Aus) (Denman {Aus}) had won half of his 22 career starts and had been out of the top three on just four occasions. His record at Group 1 level left more to be desired, as he had been blanked from seven previous tries, but the John Size trainee righted that wrong with a convincing success Sunday.

Drawn gate two for Joao Moreira, Hot King Prawn was driven along early and found himself in the perfect spot from third as Voyage Warrior (Aus) (Declaration of War) set a decent pace from Computer Patch (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}). Moreira peeled Hot King Prawn three deep outside of the dueling front-runners at the 400m mark, reeled in Voyage Warrior with a little less than a furlong to travel and came away to a facile success. Regency Legend (NZ) (Pins {Aus}), first-up for better than 400 days and who displayed some obstreperous parade ring behavior, flashed home up the fence to take a photo for second from Big Party (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}).

WATCH: The popular Hot King Prawn finally climbs the hill in the Centenary Sprint Cup

Pedigree Notes:

A half-brother to multiple Australian Group 3 winner Siren's Fury, Hot King Prawn is the first top-level scorer for Twin Hill Stud's Denman and is the 26th GI/G1SW produced by a daughter of the late Unbridled's Song. Breeder Torryburn Stud consigns Hot King Prawn's yearling full-brother as lot 561 to next month's Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, while Hot King Prawn's half-sister Storm Siren (Aus) (Excites {Aus}) is the dam of lot 347, a Widden Stud-consigned yearling from the first Southern Hemisphere crop of Coolmore's Churchill (Ire).

Sunday, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
CENTENARY SPRINT CUP-G1, HK$12,000,000 (£1,128,669/€1,275,325/A$1,996,071/US$1,548,035), 3yo/up, 1200mT, 1:08.01, gd.
1–HOT KING PRAWN (AUS), 126, g, 6, by Denman (Aus)
1st Dam: De Chorus (Aus), by Unbridled's Song
2nd Dam: Val de Grace (Aus), by Centaine (Aus)
3rd Dam: Renasans (NZ), by Ashabit (GB)
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (A$90,000 Ylg '16 INGFEB). O-Lau Sak Hong; B-Torryburn Stud (NSW); T-John Size; J-Joao Moreira; HK$6,840,000. Lifetime Record: 23-12-5-2, HK$34,087,300. *1/2 to Siren's Fury (Aus) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), MGSW-Aus, $379,420. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: D+.
2–Regency Legend (NZ), 126, g, 5, Pins (Aus)–Sparkling (NZ), by O'Reilly (NZ). (NZ$50,000 Ylg '17 NZBJAN). O-Wong Shun Yuen; B-Waikato Stud Ltd; T-Danny Shum; J-Antoine Hamelin; HK$2,640,000.
3–Big Party (Aus), 126, g, 6, Exceed and Excel (Aus)–De Groove (Aus), by Dehere. (A$420,000 Ylg '17 INGEAS). O-Ryan Wong Man Yeung & Roland Wong Ka Yeung; B-G S A Bloodstock Pty Ltd (Vic); T-Frankie Lor; J-Karis Teetan; HK$1,200,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, NO, NK. Odds: 11-10, 27-1, 40-1.
Also Ran: Voyage Warrior (Aus), Computer Patch (Aus), Fat Turtle (Aus), Buddies (Aus), Wishful Thinker (Aus), Stronger (Aus), Jolly Banner (Aus), Amazing Star (NZ). Click for the HKJC.com chart, PPs and sectional timing. VIDEO. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.