SACRED KINGDOM IS AN EXCEPTIONAL SPRINTER

SACRED KINGDOM (42) is officially the world's highest rated sprinter. And he showed why when taking the Group 2 Gome Sprint at Sha Tin.

Sacred Kingdom's jockey settled him in fifth place early behind the strong early pace and seemed far more concerned with steering away from traffic problems rather than saving ground or race tactics. It looked clear he felt the horse could win easily however the race panned out as long as he simply avoided trouble. And he was right. A gap opened entering the straight, Sacred Kingdon took it, quickly scooted up on the outside of the field and accelerated away to win while only being ridden with hands and heels.

You don't often see a horse win a Group 2 sprint so cheekily and record such a fast time. So I just wonder how fast Sacred Kingdom could go if he was really pushed.

Sacred Kingdom is a muscular, well proportioned really classy sort that actually has the physique of a horse that could go beyond short sprint trips. In fact he did run second to the very smart Good Ba Ba over seven furlongs in a Group 1 the only time he went beyond six furlongs.

So far Sacred Kingdom has won ten of his twelve starts over five and six furlongs. One of his losses was an unlucky short head loss to the high class Absolute Champion where he met heavy traffic problems. The other was an inexplicably bad fourth place finish which was followed by a lay-off.

If Sacred Kingdom makes the journey to Royal Ascot he's going to be horribly tough to beat.

GOOD BA BA LOOKS A GREAT PROSPECT FOR BREEDERS CUP MILE

Thanks to the standard times and class pars provided by the Hong Kong Jockey Club plus the large number of races at their meetings, it's easy to make accurate speed ratings for races at Sha Tin and Happy Valley. And, having done so, I can tell you that GOOD BA BA (41) is a seriously good miler.

The thing about Hong Kong races is that they tend to go slow early the sprint, just like they do in American turf races. This makes it hard to tell exactly how fast a horse is that dominates local competition as Good Ba Ba has done. AllI can say is that his latest win in the Champions Mile was easily earned yet he earned a very big speed rating from me for the second time this year.

Good Ba Ba was held up, far back in second last position but simply cruised up on the outside to tackle the leaders shortly after entering the straight. He soon sprinted clear and won full of running. I'm sure he could have put another length or two between himself and his rivals if he'd been ridden harder.

This was the third Group 1 win in a row for Good Ba Ba who will be going to America later in the year. He's Breeders'Cup nominated, so his owners won't have to fork over a huge supplementary entry fee to get him into the Breeders' Cup Mile. Seeing that he's used to racing in circumstances very similar to those he'll find in America I have to rate him the one they'll all have to beat at Santa Anita even at this early stage.

ARCHIPENKO SHOWS THAT ACCELERATION AGAIN

I've noted before the tremendous acceleration that ARCHIPENKO (40) has shown in several races. He showed it again when running the last two furlongs in about 23 seconds flat to sprint away with the valuable QEII Cup at Sha Tin.

I'm not sure that Archipenko will be as well suited to big races in Britain as they tend to feature a stronger early pace than those in Hong Kong. I suspect Archipenko won't be winning at the top level again until he travels back to Hong Kong or to other countries where sprint finishes are the norm - i.e. France, America and Australia.