Westbury Stud’s El Roca sired a new stakes-winner on Sunday when his talented Hong Kong based sprinter Lucky Patch captured the Group II Premier Bowl (1200m) over Aussie bred speedsters Super Wealthy (Epaulette) and Stronger (Not a Single Doubt).
A $40,000 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale purchase for GPI Rcg/Healey Racing/Andrew Williams Bstock from the Westbury Stud draft, the Kiwi bred started his career with two wins in Brisbane in January 2020 before being sold to Hong Kong.
Jumping from outside gate of barrier 12, Francis Lui’s lightly-raced gelding covered ground under Zac Purton before unleashing a withering surge before fending off his rivals to win by neck.
Clocking 1m 07.95s in blustery conditions, Lucky Patch continued his remarkable consistency – he now has the overall record of six wins and six minor placings from 16 starts– to earn a tilt at Hong Kong’s most prestigious sprint in December.
Lui said Lucky Patch’s performance trajectory had always been positive – and was unsurprised by G2 success.
“I’m not surprised because last season all the time he had bad draws but he finished close and the race he won he had a good draw he won by two and a quarter lengths. He’s been improving,” he said.
“I can’t say he still has more improvement but he can enter the sprint race (Hong Kong Sprint).
Lucky Patch’s success sealed a treble for Purton, who knew his task was complicated by the outside alley.
“It always looked hard from the barrier, I couldn’t see myself getting in anywhere but we rode to try and get in somewhere. If the cards fell our way, we would be lucky,” he said.
“To be honest, we were caught wide with no cover for the most part of it. It took me a long time to be able to get in and get a little bit of cover and then he travelled into it strongly and let down nicely.
“When he got to the front, he idled a little bit – so you can take nothing away from that performance.”
Lucky Patch is the third stakes-winner for Westbury Stud’s El Roca and is the best of six winners from Gould, a three-quarter sister by Danehill Dancer to stakes-winner Spitz.
Another successful sire son of Fastnet Rock, El Roca stands at a fee of $8,000.
