Stravinsky Sets Hong Kong Alight

New Zealand breeders will be feeling good about having the services of Stravinsky back on offer at Cambridge Stud this season after a week that saw plenty of promising types in action by the Group 1 July Cup winner.

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�Click here to see Stravinsky video clip

There were none more so than the winning duo of Sun Trooper (Stravinsky x Exotic Dancer, by Slavic) and Our Lucky Baby (Stravinsky x Meranti, by Woodman) in Hong Kong on Wednesday evening.

Both four-year-old geldings, Sun Trooper and Our Lucky Baby have strung together a sequence of victories each and these included Class 3 sprint features on Wednesday evening at Happy Valley which indicated bright futures.

Sun Trooper scored his fourth victory in as many starts for jockey Zac Purton, all of them over 1000m on the Happy Valley turf course. But without a doubt his last effort was the most definitive, and the fastest, recording a time of 57.14s in beating second placed Victory Conqueror (Xaar) by three and a half lengths, with third placed Lucky Winner (Favorite Trick) four and a half behind the white faced Sun Trooper.

His feat was made more impressive by the fact that he adapted to sit off the fast pace set by Thunder Flash (Secret Savings), showing the versatility of the speedster who had lead at his previous three starts.

Trained by Almond Lee, Sun Trooper was purchased by Gary Hennessy at the 2009 Karaka Premier Sale for $110,000 from Cambridge Stud. Sun Trooper is now the winner of HK$1,809,750 (NZ$ 373,584) for owner Chow Yuet Kam. His dam is a half-brother to HK-2 Sha Tin Vase winner Able Attempt - Kingston Treasure (Spectacular Love) and Listed winner Zaza, with his immediate family also producing Group 1 winners Tristanagh and Dupain.

Four races later, again in a Class 3 event, Our Lucky Baby took his third victory in a row, leading from the jump to score over 1200m by a nose and half-a-length. His win gave trainer Dennis Yip his second victory of the night, while jockey Paul Lo took the mount on the race favourite for the very first time in the event.

The son of Stravinsky was purchased by the Hong Kong Jockey Club for $80,000 as a yearling from the 2006 Karaka Premier Sale. Another Cambridge Stud graduate, Our Lucky Baby formed part of the 2006 Hong Kong International Sale where he fetched HK$2,000,000 (NZ$ 412,899). He is currently raced by the Super Diamond Syndicate for whom he has won HK$1,806,000 to date with more in store his form would suggest.

Stravinsky sired four other winners outside New Zealand last week, including his two-year-old daughter Queen Oedipus (Stravinsky x Improviste, by The Minstrel) who won a second time for David Hayes in Melbourne on Saturday, with her next target being the Listed SAJC Oaklands Plate (1350m) on June 6.

Stravinsky returns to Cambridge Stud after missing the previous two seasons due to the restrictions of Equine Influenza in Australia. His return has been much anticipated due to his success in Australasia and across Asia where his versatility has been shown in his ability to leave Group 1 winning precocious juveniles like Keeninsky through to Group 1 winning Classic fillies like Serenade Rose.

Cambridge Stud principal, Sir Patrick Hogan, is very pleased to have Stravinsky available again this season.

"The New Zealand Industry has missed him a lot. He sires winners at all ages, with both sexes, over a range of distances, and on tracks located on all racing continents."

"His versatility is attractive to buyers in the sale ring and to broodmare owners who have noted that Stravinsky has sired 55 stakes winners from a wide range of mares, both on pedigree and type."

"I look forward to Stravinsky's arrival in the spring and, going on his large number of bookings thus far, so are Australasian breeders."

Stravinsky will stand the 2009 breeding season at Cambridge Stud for a service fee of $35,000 + GST (live foal guarantee) and his book will be limited to 110 mares.