Moore dreams of International Day after Anabatik leaves rivals covered in dirt

Hong Kong Sprint hope Anabatik scorched to a record-breaking win on the dirt yesterday and left trainer John Moore in the unusual position of hoping the handicapper gives the boom youngster plenty of rating points following the 5.5-length romp.

There was little doubt about the result from a long way out as Michael Cahill crossed to lead on Anabatik from gate 10, opened a three-length advantage off the turn and lengthened the lead effortlessly in the straight to clock one minute and 8.4 seconds, half a second inside the 1,200-metre course record.

Moore talked up Anabatik afterwards, partly buoyed by the excitement of the win, but also with an eye on the handicapper's deliberations. 'I have a lot of time for this horse and he did what I expected him to do today,' Moore said.

'He's a special racehorse and he's so quick, maybe the quickest I've ever had. He takes after his sire, Anabaa, who had the same natural speed and was the champion 1,000-metre horse in Europe. Now we'll have to wait and see how much the handicapper puts him up for this win because we want to go for the sprint race on International Day and we need to get his rating high enough. If he got a run, I'm sure he'd be very competitive.'

Anabatik, who went into his first race on dirt rated 81, may be assured of a double-figure rise after his runaway win, but he is not certain of a start in the Hong Kong Sprint, or even the terms race for Sprint hopefuls three weeks today. With the final fields for International Day to be decided after that prep event, Moore knows he is facing a race against time to get Anabatik qualified.

'The problem is that I could enter him for the Sprint Trial and then find he is balloted out because his rating is not high enough and I can't take that risk. If he's not sure to get in that race, I'll have to find another race for him first,' Moore said.