South Africa claimed another Hong Kong scalp when Sweet Sanette defeated Sacred Kingdom in the G3 Bauhinia Trophy on Saturday.

Sweet Sanette (5m Jallad – Scented Samantha by National Assembly) chased the early pace from the stand-side rail and took command a furlong out.  She was receiving 7kg from Sacred Kingdom and held off the champion sprinter to score by a neck.

The Tony Millard trained mare had won the G3 Sycamore Sprint at Turffontein before transferring to Hong Kong.  She’s an out-and-out sprinter with 8 wins up to 1160m and over HK$5.61 million in prizemoney.

“We had an uninterrupted run,” winning hoop Greg Cheyne said.  “That allowed me to rate her and then switch on when I felt she was ready.”

Sweet Sanette’s sire Jallad is by Blushing Groom from NZ bred mare Petrava (Imposing).  He stands at Highlands Stud in Cape Provence and was Champion South African sire in 2002.

In December, South African sprinter J J The Jet Plane (Jet Master) defeated Rocket Man and Sacred Kingdom in the G1 Hong Kong International Sprint.

Sacred Kingdom (Encosta de Lago) was gallant in defeat on Saturday but Brett Prebble said the gelding isn’t quite the same at the finish.  “His action is fantastic and the acceleration is as awesome as ever.  But he just doesn’t go through with it like he used to.”

While plans for Sweet Sanette are unclear, Sacred Kingdom holds an entry for the G1 KrisFlyer Sprint on May 22.  He is expected to clash with Rocket Man again in Singapore.