Fit-again Birdie puts on grand trial display
Green Birdie brought a welcome touch of class to yesterday's Happy Valley barrier trials and didn't let the fans down, coming from last to first through the agency of a dashing Felix Coetzee ride to set himself up nicely for the coming feature races.
Green Birdie won the Group Two Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby Trial at 1,800 metres earlier in the year, but had a setback - albeit an unusual one - with a hind leg injury late last term.
Trainer Caspar Fownes has successfully rehabilitated Green Birdie, and this trial proves the son of Catbird is on track for the big events, with the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile his ultimate target on December 14.
Green Birdie balanced in the early stages on the second trial over 1,200m and settled at the rear of this field of eight. Coetzee took all the shortcuts along the back stretch and persisted with inside runs on the home turn.
Ultimately, without having done any serious work, all Coetzee had to do was ask for the Birdie's renowned finishing burst and the good-looking bay did the rest. Coetzee did not push him out in the concluding stages and he narrowly held off the late finishing burst of Clean Sweep.
The runner-up, a member of the David Hall team, was probably a superior performance in a one-on-one comparison with the winner. The seven-year-old was midfield and wide for Marco Chui Kwan-lai and opened up stylishly in the final 100m.
