HONG KONG'S champion galloper Makarpura Star is out of Saturday's L. K. S. MacKinnon Stakes in Australia after a morning scope yesterday discovered the horse was suffering from a viral complaint. 'He's only slightly viral, but it is too big a risk to run him when he is not right against Australia's best gallopers, so he is out,' said trainer John Moore. Saturday's race was to be the Horse of the Year's second start in Melbourne following a first-up third in the Coongy Handicap last month. However, he was set to meet some of the best gallopers in Australia in the race following the decision of connections of Danewin and Cox Plate winner Octagonal to run. 'It was becoming a highly competitive event, but it is disappointing to have to withdraw him from the race as he has been flying in his work and looks better than I have ever seen him,' said Moore. Makarpura Star will be put on a plane on Monday and will return to the territory immediately to begin a three-week quarantine period. 'We have got to get him back now so that I can have him right for the International Cup in December,' said Moore. Despite his disappointment, the champion mentor feels that the trip may have its upside for his preparation for December's showpiece. 'It has been like a holiday for him and he'll come back in great shape,' he said. Meanwhile, former sprint sensation Concert King will lead a cavalcade of former stars of the Hong Kong turf to a new life as equestrian horses in Shanghai. The great grey Quicken Away, who enforced a change of rules in local racing and went on to become Horse of the Year, is undergoing extensive re-training and could end his days in China. He started life with Dermot Weld in Ireland and qualified to come to Hong Kong on the strength of a walkover at Gowran Park - almost dumping ace jockey Michael Kinane on the way to the post. Walkover victories were subsequently banned as a qualification for Hong Kong as a private purchase horse. 'But I would say it's not really likely that Quicken Away will go. He still has a mind of his own and we have a lot of re-training to do with him. It's a possibility that he might go to Shanghai, but the odds are against it,' said Beas River supremo, Michael Tibbatts, yesterday.
