Time for Baby to hit the big time(23 Jan) MARK YOUR CARD by MURRAY BELL Lucky Baby remains unbeaten over sprint distances and, if trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing wanted some convincing about whether he should shoot for the stars, he need only look at yesterday's entries for the Centenary Sprint Cup. The Group One race is the first leg of the sprinters' triple crown and will be decided over the straight 1,000 metres course at Sha Tin on February 4. The Centenary Sprint Cup attracted only 10 entries, a collection of what we might irreverently call the usual suspects. They are (in alphabetical order), Able Choice, Able Prince, Absolute Champion, Billet Express, Natural Blitz, Our Jet, Planet Ruler, Regency Horse, (Luck Baby's stablemate) Scintillation and Silent Witness. While Scintillation will obviously be the one to beat over the straight 1,000m course at set weights, and Absolute Champion must be afforded the appropriate respect in the wake of his stunning victory in the HK$12 million Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint on December 10, none of the others should look too scary for a horse of Lucky Baby's stature. The four-year-old is a natural at the sprinting caper, a tall but powerfully-built giant who is virtually the same weight as Silent Witness at around 1,280 pounds. Lucky Baby is unbeaten at 1,000m and 1,200m and in fact has not even been properly challenged in seven starts at those distances. His win at Sha Tin on Saturday was achieved at the top of Class Two and he did so with three-quarters of a length to spare over Bulb King, a good yardstick horse to whom he conceded 13 pounds. Shum is concerned that Lucky Baby may be excessively punished by the handicapper for a placed performance in the sprinting features. But in recent times, the handicapping department has implemented a policy that horses in these weight-for-age races will be penalised a maximum of five rating points, regardless of where they sit on the Jockey Club rating scale. The second leg of the sprinters' triple crown will be the HK$4.5 million Chairman's Sprint Prize over 1,200m at Sha Tin on March 4 and it could be the only opportunity for Lucky Baby over the next two months, bearing in mind he's now a Class One sprinter on a rating of 102. There are just two Class One races during February, both at 1,400m, and the first sprint race that comes up for Lucky Baby is for horses in the 105-80 band on March 31. The Jockey Club advised yesterday that the starting gates for races down the straight 1,000m at Sha Tin will be placed against the outside rail. A recent meeting with the club and the trainers was told that one of the main reasons for the outside of the track in straight course races providing quicker ground was due to the high usage from barrier trials, which has the effect of producing more consolidated and therefore faster ground against the outside rail. With effect from Sunday, February 4, the starting gates for 1,000m will be positioned on the outside of the track, though barrier numbers will remain the same (ie, the barrier closest to the stand-side rail will be 14).