And finally, champion Dark Love secured his first victory in Hong Kong
- Turf Diario
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Now racing under the name Kempes, the former champion produced a spectacular victory at Sha Tin, rallying from last to first
SHA TIN, Hong Kong (Special for Turf Diario).- After seven prior attempts and nearly three months on the sidelines, Argentine champion Dark Love, now racing as Kempes, finally broke through in Hong Kong with his first local success in the early hours of Wednesday.
With Andrea Atzeni in the irons, the son of In the Dark out of Lovely Lady (Honour and Glory) came away with a dramatic score in the Shanghai H., a Class 3 event for horses rated 80 to 60, contested at 1200 meters on the turf. Carrying just 117 pounds—one of the lightest imposts in the field—the former Argentine juvenile champion unleashed a remarkable late rally.
Trained by David Hall for owner Mr. & Mrs. Colin Lo Chor Cheong and bred by Haras Las Retamas, Kempes turned for home dead last and trapped behind a wall of horses. Urged by Atzeni, he weaved his way through traffic before nailing New Zealand-breds Harold Man (Swiss Ace) and New Future Folks (Savabeel) on the wire, scoring by a nose and a head in a shock result. Sent off at 31-1, he stopped the clock in a sharp 1:08.77 after fractions of :23.58 and :46.77.
A bay gelding, Kempes was crowned Argentina’s Champion 2-Year-Old Colt of 2023 after just three starts. He was runner-up on debut behind the highly regarded Auto Bahn (Asiatic Boy), then graduated by 13 lengths over the dirt at Palermo before sealing his title in the G1 Gran Premio Estrellas Juvenile at San Isidro. That day, switching to turf, he dispatched a strong cast including G1 winners Epityrum (Portal del Alto), Unico Happy (Hi Happy), and Rammel(Fortify) while carrying the silks of Stud San Isidoro and under the care of Enrique Martín Ferro.
Imported to Hong Kong, Kempes debuted at Sha Tin in May 2024 with an 11th-place finish and had yet to hit the board, his best effort being a fifth going 1200 meters this past May—the same trip in which he finally delivered today’s breakthrough win.
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