Viva Pataca consolidated his position as favourite for next Sunday's Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby with a brilliant trial win at Sha Tin yesterday morning.
With Eric Saint-Martin keeping the saddle warm for Christophe Soumillon, Viva Pataca rounded up his rivals in the opening heat over 1,050 metres and raced away with a minimum of effort from the four-year-old and absolutely none from the jockey.
The performance was exemplary as Saint-Martin had tracked very wide on the circle, keeping the expensive British private purchase well and truly out of potential trouble. Yet despite the amount of extra ground he had covered, Viva Pataca simply loped past Group One winner Figures (Glyn Schofield) in the final 200m to score by two lengths.
The time of 1:03.0 was equal fastest of the morning, but the leader-to-winner sectional times were quickest among the three heats - the last 600m in 35.5 seconds, with 23.7 for the last 400m and 11.59 for the ultimate 200m.
Trainer John Moore would have undoubtedly been delighted with the gelding's progress, as well as the quality of this performance, and it seems he'll be spot on for the Derby on March 26.
Figures bounced straight to the front but Schofield was in no hurry to carve out time. In fact, the sectional time for the first 450m of this heat was the slowest of the morning.