Luckyme is genuine star on the rise(20 Mar)

MARK YOUR CARD by MURRAY BELL

In case there was any lingering doubt after Luckyme annihilated his Class Three rivals at Sha Tin on Sunday, times and rating analysis removed all doubt that this is a genuine star on the rise.

Luckyme has now made it three wins from four starts, his only defeat coming at his second attempt when trapped on the inside of runners and, in his relative inexperience, he was reluctant to stretch out properly.

But after learning about that little quirk in his make-up, jockey Howard Cheng Yue-tin has made no mistake, giving Luckyme plenty of room in two subsequent races that have resulted in comprehensive wins.

Trainer Tony Cruz moved Luckyme up to 1,600 metres this time and the Chief Bearhart gelding took it all in his stride, showing superior speed in the early part of the race and the capacity to quicken away from his rivals at the business end.

Ultimately, Luckyme stopped the clock at 1:35.6 for the metric mile, which calculated out as 0.55 seconds faster than standard after factoring out the speed of the track on the day.

It means that the New Zealand-bred youngster has gone about two lengths above average for this class of race, and points to him being well capable of winning in the next grade when the time comes.

However, that won't be happening just yet. Nigel Gray and the handicapping team lifted Luckyme 10 points for this 2 1/2-length win, taking him to a Jockey Club rating of 79 points, still under the Class Three threshold.

Luckyme is the first of the progeny of Chief Bearhart to race in Hong Kong. Chief Bearhart was a high-class Canadian galloper who was able to take his domestic success onto the international stage by winning the 1997 Canadian International at Woodbine and then the Breeders' Cup Turf (2,400m) at Hollywood Park.

Chief Bearhart had a pedigree that boasted a lot more speed than you'd expect of a specialist 2,400m horse, being by the great Chief's Crown [a Danzig horse who won nine Group One races] from Amelia Bearhart, whose dam Myrtlewood Lass is a half-sister to the great Mr Prospector, still regarded as one of the fastest horses ever seen in America.

For his 1997 performances, Chief Bearhart earned more than US$2 million in purses gained the top honours in both Canada and America, winning the Sovereign Award as Canadian Horse of the Year and the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Male Turf Horse.

At five, in 1998, Chief Bearhart returned to win his second Canadian Horse of the Year title, having lifted the Niagara Breeders' Cup Handicap, the Sky Classic Handicap and setting a course record in winning the Graded One Manhattan Handicap.

He was retired at the end of that year and four years later was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Luckyme doesn't only have to rely on Chief Bearhart for his quality and strength. He has received plenty of genetic help from his mother, Frizzle, who has previously produced the 2006 Champions Mile runner-up Danacourt.