Heavy Hitters Trial at Sha Tin

With an eye on feature events coming up Sunday, Jan. 25, several of the top horses in Hong Kong took part in a specially added barrier trial up the 1000-meter straight course Tuesday morning at Sha Tin. 

One of several prepping for the newly upgraded G1 Stewards’ Cup, Able Friend (Aus) (Shamardal), who turned in one of the most dominating performances of 2014 when defeating Gold-Fun (Ire) (Le Vie dei Colori {GB}) by 4 1/4 lengths in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile Dec. 14, was the marquee name in a field of nine. The 1300-pound gelding jumped well from stall eight and sat in third behind the speed of Peniaphobia (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint runner-up who will race in the Centenary Sprint Cup on the same program. The short-track specialist was always cruising on the lead for jockey Matt Chadwick and was nudged along in the latter stages to ‘win’ the heat in a time of :59.21 (video), as Gold-Fun (:59.37) chased throughout from second. Able Friend was never asked a serious question by jockey Joao Moreira and hit the line third (:59.59) before galloping out with good energy. The leading rider was pleased with the effort. 

“Able Friend felt great, I was asked to just give him an easy time and he travelled all the way through on the bridle,” said Moreira. “We are just looking forward to the next race. I haven’t sat on him much since his last race, but I know he’s been doing as well as before the International Race. I just hope he keeps his same form and I don’t think he would need to improve much at all to win again.” 

Ambitious Dragon (NZ) (Pins {Aus}) finished another length back in fourth and returns to action after missing the Hong Kong Mile with a foot issue. Blazing Speed (GB) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}), a disappointing 12th at 5-1 in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup, finished fifth in the trial and cuts back to the mile distance as he looks to defend his title in the Stewards’ Cup. Glorious Days (Aus) (Hussonet), the 2013 Hong Kong Mile hero, was urged home in sixth and will look to improve off his first-up fourth to Able Friend on International Races day. 

The Stewards’ Cup, upgraded to an international Group 1 for this running, carries purse money of HK$10 million (US$1,289,827).