Group One winners seldom come on the market at the right price, but three of this season's private purchases have won at the highest level in their home countries and their new connections will be hoping they can reach the same heights in Hong Kong. Two Group One winners - Raider from New Zealand and Australia's Helene Pillaging - were featured last week, and the third is Timber Trader, this time from South Africa. Timber Trader gained his Group One win in the South African Derby in April, the last of his six starts there which brought three wins and two seconds, and will start on a mark of 101 for David Oughton. Another Derby bid is likely to be on the agenda here, though his big win in South Africa came over 2,450 metres and he looks an out-and-out stayer as he has never run over less than a mile and has never won below 1,800m. It is difficult to weigh up South African form comparative to other countries, but former QEII Cup winner London News is proof that the best SA horses can be highly competitive. David Hayes, who will train Helene Pillaging, has another classy import in West Australian Derby runner-up Lord Mason. He is by a fast horse in Kenvain, but his dam side is all stamina and that is where his forte has been in Perth. Unbeaten in two starts at two, he returned last season with legitimate excuses for his first two defeated efforts before stringing together wins at 1,500m, 1,800m and 2,200m, charging from the rear of big fields each time. At his latest start, Lord Mason again came from near last when second as a short-priced favourite in the Group One WA Derby over 2,400m. While form in Perth is rarely as good as that in Sydney or Melbourne, Lord Mason looks capable of developing into a Derby prospect here if he can acclimatise to Hong Kong. Like several horses featured here, his rating has yet to be fixed as he is one of those imported late last month. John Moore has several promising imports and none more so than Ahsanabad, a high-class recruit from John Oxx's stable in Ireland. Bred and formerly owned by the Aga Khan, the son of Muhtarram had good form from seven starts at the time of his purchase - but it looks even better now. His last start came in a Group Three race over a mile in Ireland and he finished one-length third behind Dress To Thrill, winner of a Group Two in England last weekend and a possible for the Breeders' Cup Mile later this month. The runner-up in the Group Three race went on to win at the same level, as did the fourth home, while the fifth-placed horse was Group and Listed placed. Ahsanabad, who is likely to start on a rating of around 100, has been tried at 2,000m but the evidence so far suggests he is best at a mile. The three-year-old Sanguinity is an interesting import from Australia for Moore, even though his initial rating is likely to be in the mid-70s. A son of Irish stayer Runyon, Sanguinity is a maiden after seven juvenile starts in Australia but has the look of a young stayer in the making and found most of those races far too short. The most significant run was his last, when stepped up to 1,600m and raced out of his class in the Listed Gibson-Carmichael Stakes at Flemington in May. He struck interference early, then rattled home from past midfield for second to Fuji Dancer, a filly who was beaten in a photo-finish to the Group Two Edward Manifold Stakes at Flemington on Saturday. Runyon himself was a Group One winner up to 2,000m before going amiss and Sanguinity could be looking for the same sort of distance before he shows his real worth. Moore has also acquired the two-year-old Middleham Peacock, who won three of his four British starts in lowly company at 1,200m-1,400m. The son of Revoque looks nothing special, but his pedigree suggests he will improve with maturity and stay a mile at least. Serious Play is another import with only two-year-old form to his credit, but Peter Ho's 95-rated recruit from Ireland showed distinct promise in his two starts last year. After a promising debut third in a 1,200m maiden, he won a valuable sales race over a slightly longer trip and, while that race was on yielding ground, the form has worked out well. Gold Field is a useful recruit for Peter Chapple-Hyam, having proved a consistent handicapper in Britain for the same stable which previously housed Chapple-Hyam's Cellini and star sprinter Firebolt. The 92-rated son of Catrail won twice as a two-year-old and then finished just under two lengths behind a pair of decent horses in a mile handicap - the winner later went close in a Group Two race in Ireland, while the runner-up moved to the United States, where he finished fourth in a Grade Two race at Belmont on his first start. The concerns with Gold Field are that 2,000m was reckoned his limit in Britain, even though his dam won over the trip, while his former trainer said he was best on softer going. Pepperoni has joined Alex Wong Yu-on after three wins from 12 starts in mid-grade British sprint events. All of his victories came last year as a two-year-old, including a Listed success at 1,000m, but he finished a close second in two of his four starts in 2002 and clearly handles fast ground. A probable mark of around 100 could be plenty high enough, though, and doubts were raised about his resolution when he disappointed as favourite on his last run in Britain. Notes on all imports will appear in Racing Post when they have their first run.
