Andy Leung Ting-wah continued his barrage of trial winners on Friday, taking out both heats on the all-weather track at Sha Tin with Loyal Devotion and Golden Goblet.
Loyal Devotion, who was winning his third trial in as many weeks, has certainly been given a very solid preparation in the past month. He was chased home by Geoff Lane's Bond and Kev Bushido, who have also been regular participants at the trials recently. The first three all trialled with merit, which was to be expected given their decent all-weather form.
Leung had the quinella in the second heat with Golden Goblet narrowly edging out Sincere And Faith. Like many from the yard, the pair appear to be on good terms and should prove competitive when they next appear.
Derek Cruz's Serevi has been prone to missing the start quite badly in the past, but with the application of blinkers on Friday, his trial was a shade better and he finished off well under Dwayne Dunn. His work has been quite useful and, with the gear change, he could be more of a threat when he next appears.
There was not much to note from the remainder, but in other work David Hayes' Splendid Star caught the eye in his Riverside gallop on Thursday. The striking son of Danzero is yet to run this season and has been brought along patiently in his preparation due to an enforced three-month layoff after undergoing an operation at the end of last season. The gelding glided over 800 metres in a leisurely 53.9 seconds under Shane Dye, and while the time was nothing startling, it was the manner in which he moved that impressed.
Alex Wong Yu-on's talented pair Strong Scotch and Tenacity worked together on the Riverside, with the latter going marginally better. The son of Bold 'N' Flashy appears to have taken his last run extremely well and extended over 800 metres in 50.2 seconds. One could not fault the work of Strong Scotch, who remains in terrific shape.