No prizes for spotting the most significant performance of the week, with newcomer Universal Winner absolutely trotting up in the Class Four Manawatu River Handicap at Sha Tin on Saturday.
Expertly prepared for this first-up victory by Francis Lui and with Wendyll Woods little more than a passenger, he easily drew 4.25 lengths clear of Ovation, who in turn left the others trailing seven lengths in his wake, and skipped home in an equally impressive one minute and 10.1 seconds, which equates to a Topspeed rating of 57.
An immediate jump into Class Three for Universal Winner was a formality but when the manner of victory is considered in conjunction with the fast overall time performance, connections will surely expect their potential young star to take this hike in the handicap ratings in his stride.
Unlike some examples this season when a young horse has taken a big jump in the ratings after an impressive debut win, the absence of any complaints from connections has also been refreshing. Others should take a lesson.
As has been shown on many occasions before and highlighted in On The Rails on Monday, the handicapping system clearly allows promising newcomers to enter the ratings ladder on a relatively lenient mark and there is nothing wrong in handlers exploiting the system.
But equally, the Jockey Club handicapper is perfectly correct in making stringent reassessments when fairly handicapped animals have been left toiling in a newcomer's wake.
Yes, the jump in class against battle-hardened handicappers can sometimes be too much for an inexperienced youngster but the inexperience of the horse is not the handicapper's concern, only his supremacy over the other animals in the handicap structure.
