In the absence of regular jockey Craig Williams, who will arrive in Hong Kong only on raceday to pilot Criterion (NZ) (Sebring {Aus}) in Sunday's G1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup, trainer David Hayes reached out to leading local rider Zac Purton to put the 4-year-old through his paces ahead of the 2000-meter feature.
Purton, who has the call atop 2013 QEII hero Military Attack (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}) for trainer Caspar Fownes, was happy to accept the trackwork assignment and partnered Sir Owen Glenn's runner in a 1200-meter gallop which concluded with a final quarter mile in a tidy :24.2. The overall clocking was 1:24.4.
“He felt great,” Purton told Hayes. “It was really nice work. His attitude was 100% and he quickened up nicely at the end of the gallop. He's so relaxed you wouldn't know he was a colt.”
Despite backing up on just 15 days' rest, having annexed the G1 Longines Queen Elizabeth S. during The Championships at Royal Randwick, Criterion looks to have taken the travel across to Hong Kong very well and is making an excellent physical impression as well.
“His coat's great and he's a healthy, no-nonsense horse who reminds me of Jeune (GB) and his relaxed attitude is similar to Better Loosen Up (Aus),” Hayes said referring to two of his past greats–Jeune, a G1 Melbourne Cup winner and Better Loosen Up who won a G1 Japan Cup. Hayes was also a fixture in Hong Kong for about a decade in the early 2000s. “I'm really happy with him,” he continued. “He's done so well here. Like me, he obviously likes Hong Kong and I was happy and thankful to have Zac [Purton] help us out this morning. I didn't want the horse to do too much and I knew Zac would get it right which he did.”
Criterion is also no stranger to Hong Kong, as he finished a bang-up third behind Designs on Rome (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire})–the defending QEII champ–and Military Attack in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup last December.
Criterion's fellow raiders Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) and Smoking Sun (Smart Strike) were out for some light work over the Sha Tin dirt track, Japan's Staphanos (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) let down nicely in the final 400 meters of his move, covering that part of the distance in a swift :22.7. He then took a turn of the spacious parade ring.
“The track was softer than the turf course in Japan– this is new for him and he had to work to pick his feet up a little bit more than he is used to,” commented assistant trainer Kazuo Fujisawa. “But he was fresh and lively after the gallop. He appears to be fit and is now familiar with this new environment. I think he will move up into another gear from today's gallop.”
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