Hard-earned victory to be rewarded with rest

Despite Winning Apex having scored over a mile in New Zealand, Michael Chang Chun-wai's four-year-old might have his limitations getting over that trip here and will now have a let-up, according to winning jockey Olivier Doleuze. After the Frenchman scored a Class Three victory over 1,400m, he said the gelding's overseas record could be deceptive and needed to be placed in context. 'This horse is going to improve, but he may be limited in distance,' he said. 'He had won over a mile, but in New Zealand they go slowly and then they kick.' He added: 'I think we are going to spell him a little bit, because he is a small type of horse and today he had a tough run.'