I think he will find it difficult in Class Four, Man says
Manfred Man Ka-leung was doing his best to downplay the Class Five success of City Delight, trotting out all the usual reasons why the handicapper shouldn't slug his maiden winner too many points. "That was a very slow time, Umberto [Rispoli] rode a perfect race and he got the help from the easy barrier draw [three]. I think he will find it difficult in Class Four," Man said. City Delight beat late-charging Alp's Glory (Tye Angland) and Gorgeous Life (Derek Leung Ka-chun). What the trainer was willing to talk up was the health of star sprinter Eagle Regiment ahead of his assault on the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai later this month. Man said Eagle Regiment will trial on Tuesday and depart on March 18 ahead of the race on the 30th. Michael Cox
Bruised Lai gets a kick out of his unforgettable week
Eddie Lai Wai-ming has had a tumultuous, but ultimately successful, week on the track. He overcame a scary fall to ride a winner in the next race at Happy Valley on Wednesday, and then scored on a pick-up ride at 60-1 at Sha Tin yesterday. With Andreas Suborics indisposed due to food poisoning, Lai picked up the mount on Michael Chang Chun-wai's local debutant Eagle Power, who won the Association of Hong Kong Racing Journalists Challenge Cup. "My leg is still sore, I couldn't trot horses up because it hurts too much having the stirrups like that, it's OK when I am riding short though," Lai said. "The horse [Eagle Power] was very lazy in the run, but once he picked the bit up in the straight, I knew he was going to win." Michael Cox
'He is as honest and as genuine as they come'
Tony Cruz said Supreme Genki is clearly up to his mark, and said when he wins again it won't be by much after the four-year-old prevailed in a thrilling three-way finish. The margins were a short-head by a short-head as Matthew Chadwick squeezed everything out of the front-runner, beating T-Bolt (Tim Clark) and Notus (Keith Yeung Ming-lun) in a deceptive photo. "He only won by a whisker, but that's all he will probably ever win by," Cruz said. "He is as honest and as genuine as they come, but he is pretty limited." Chadwick said it was simply a case of having the race handed to him in front. "He had everything go his way," he said. "But to be honest, he has had 24 starts now for a couple of wins, so he is probably at his mark." Michael Cox
