Trialled and tested: HK trio ready for Yasuda Kinen raid
Hot on the heels of Green Birdie's win in Singapore, the principals in heat three of the barrier trials at Sha Tin yesterday are preparing to say bye-bye Hong Kong and konnichiwa Japan for the Group One Yasuda Kinen on June 6.
Beauty Flash, Sight Winner and Fellowship turned in solid gallops to complete the 1,000m tune-up in 58.33 seconds, the fastest time of the morning.
The Tony Cruz-trained Beauty Flash showed his customary speed to lead throughout under Matthew Chadwick and held John Size's Sight Winner by a half-length margin on the line.
Olivier Doleuze partnered Sight Winner, but Australian jockey Craig Williams, who is completing a three-month stint in Japan, will take the reins in the Yasuda Kinen.
The Paul O'Sullivan-trained Fellowship travelled comfortably with regular partner Zac Purton holding him right to the line.
Sight Winner's stablemate, Diego, was running on late with Douglas Whyte in the irons. He had a gelding operation recently and has been making rapid improvement in trials.
Trainer Dennis Yip Chor-hong will be a happy man after watching youngsters Surfer Boy, Million Darling and Fat Choy Oohlala stretch out nicely in their respective heats.
Brett Prebble asked Surfer Boy to do little in heat one over 800m and finished four lengths off the winner, Supreme Fay Fay, who stopped the clock at 47.15 seconds.
Million Darling displayed a nice action to finish third in the second batch over 800m behind Lucky Marble in a time of 47.50 seconds.
He has had a freshen up since finishing fourth to Master Rio over 1,200m at Happy Valley on his debut on February 10. The three-year-old looks to have ability and it would be no surprise to see him improve his rating of 52 significantly before the end of the season.
Fat Choy Oohlala stepped out over 1,000m and won in good fashion in a time of 59.32 seconds, again with Prebble doing the honours. All three gallopers worked together on the dirt on Sunday and look to be getting ready for a late-season assault, which is likely to boost Prebble's stakes in the premiership.
The Yasuda Kinen, the final leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, is worth total prize money (HK dollars) of: $17m
