Sprinter Rich Tapestry has come through his Breeders' Cup failure relatively unscathed, but has been placed on a course of antibiotics as a precautionary measure, says trainer Michael Chang Chun-wai.
Rich Tapestry finished last in the Xpressbet Breeders' Cup Sprint and was found to have substantial blood and dirt on his trachea when scoped by vets in a post-race examination.
Chang returned to Hong Kong yesterday, but trackwork rider Vincent Sit Shun-keung and mafoo Irving Chan Chak-ming will stay with the horse in the US until he is sent to a quarantine farm around 30 minutes from Santa Anita today.
"He ate up everything this morning and looks okay," Chang said. "I will still give him three days of antibiotics just in case his lungs get infected. The weather has changed a little and is getting cooler, so I don't want to take any risks."
Rich Tapestry will spend three weeks in quarantine before returning to Hong Kong, where the six-year-old will spend a further two weeks away from the general horse population.
Meanwhile, owner Sheikh Fahed al-Thani says he is keen to return to the Longines Hong Kong International Races with a couple of international Group One winners.
The Qatari, who won the 2011 Hong Kong Vase with Dunaden, has Trade Storm and Side Glance slated for starts at the December meeting, and said there could be more from the Pearl Bloodstock team heading east.
"I love coming to Hong Kong and it looks like Trade Storm and Side Glance are definitely going, and we could have a couple of fillies we will consider taking," Sheikh Fahed said at the Breeders' Cup meeting.
"I love the Hong Kong meeting and, obviously, we had some success there. It's a pretty tight schedule, but once we go down to Australia after here we can sit down and work out what we will do," he said.
Trade Storm won this year's Group One Woodbine Mile Stakes and was third in the Breeders' Cup Mile last weekend. Side Glance was fifth in last year's Hong Kong Cup, and since then has placed twice in US Group Ones, before sound efforts in two runs in Australia.
