A breakdown in communication saw yesterday's barrier trial session at Sha Tin finish in shambles as the last two heats were reduced to three and two runners respectively.
With inclement weather forcing Jockey Club officials to move the scheduled grass trials from Happy Valley to the all-weather track at Sha Tin, it was only to be expected numbers would fall away.
But regular trackwatchers and the Club's own Racing To Win team were left bemused as Tony Cruz's The King Of Cloyne and The Establishment cantered around to the start for the sixth and final heat of the morning. By this stage most had packed up to leave, rightfully assuming that the fifth trial with only three runners was the end of the road.
However, according to reports Cruz had not been advised of the decimation of the entries for the last two heats and sent his horses around to participate in what was nothing more than a glorified gallop.
It is doubtful this arrangement would have been satisfactory to Cruz and it certainly would have been a much more meaningful exercise for all concerned if the last two fields had been combined.
While the session finished on a note of disappointment, Cruz had earlier provided winners of the first two heats in Leisure Island and Gulch Lightning.