Irish-bred import Hear The Roar was getting the crowd at Happy Valley on their feet when slicing through the field with a bold move for second in the Class Three Sha Tin Handicap (1,800m) on Wednesday night and looks ready to salute the judge.
Hear The Roar had already made a good impression in his debut last month at Sha Tin when working home nicely under the guidance of Maxim Guyon for a promising fifth behind exciting Liberator in the Dyer Handicap (1,800m).
The Sean Woods-trained gelding drifted out to near 8-1 before the jump, but was always going to have his followers when the declarations were printed with Guyon retaining the ride over Amityship, who had been firing on all cylinders with a win and two seconds in three earlier rides for the Frenchman.
He was patiently ridden after leaving from the widest gate, was asked to pick up ground passing the 500m, rounded the final corner six deep, switched inside under a hard left whip at the 200m, was breathing down the neck of the favourite Ho Ho Life at the 100m before peaking on his run 50m out. He clocked the fastest final 400m in 23.20 seconds.
The four-year-old arrived with four starts under his belt from Britain, where he was a second-up winner at Goodwood over a mile and twice second - once over the 1,704m at Epsom and another over the 2,019m on soft ground at Yarmouth.
Hear The Roar is a son of High Chaparral, a high-grade performer with six Group One wins, including the Epsom Derby, Irish Derby, Champion Stakes and two Breeders' Cup Turfs. He has produced five Group One winners since taking up stud duty in 2004. From three local runners, he is responsible for talented Let Me Handle It, a 101-rated winner of four races and a starter in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Cup on Sunday, the mile winner Wo Ai Ninn and the once-placed from two starts Viva Freedom.