It was only when trainer Caspar Fownes was half undressed on Saturday that he realised he had gone off too early.
With a dinner time flight to Singapore to watch Military Attack and Lucky Nine in Sunday's majors at Kranji, the reigning champion trainer was going to be rushed for time to get to the airport if he loitered for the 10th race at Sha Tin.
So he thought he would get a head start and headed home to watch the Class One dirt sprint on television while he readied himself for the trip.
"I'd got down to my underwear when Domineer crossed them and got to the rail and I knew he'd win once that happened," said a slightly flustered Fownes after throwing his clothes back on and running back to the racecourse just in time to greet Domineer and 10-pound claiming apprentice Jack Wong Ho-nam in the winner's circle.
"It was a bit of a rush to get back. To be honest, I thought there was too much pace inside him to get over and the key to this horse is getting across to the rail. If they held him out or made him work too hard to get there, he was in big trouble, so I wasn't expecting to have to be in a winning photo."
But rival riders were content to let the claimer make his way over on the rain-affected dirt track and then there was no getting past the leader in the sloppy conditions with Wong's claim helping with the big handicap weight.
"Jack did a great job on him just rating him nicely when he led, not going too quick. I think he's got the makings of a good jock," said Fownes after Domineer's sixth victory in 18 starts, off a rating of 110, which means he has fulfilled Fownes' early opinion. "I always said he'd get to over 110 rating points."
The win closed John Moore's lead over Fownes in the trainers' table to three wins with another three to John Size.
