The genius of Tony Cruz has conjured amazing levels of improvement out of Legionnaire and Shanghai King over the past week, and Australian private purchase Phantom Thief may be the next to benefit from the trainer's fabled horsemanship.
Phantom Thief performed disgracefully at Sha Tin on January 31, getting very agitated before his race and basically failing to participate. He fell out of the stalls 11/2 lengths behind the field and simply followed them around despite the urgings of jockey Felix Coetzee.
It was a horse of an entirely different colour who turned up at the trials at Sha Tin on Friday morning. The powerfully made four-year-old started from the outside barrier in a field of seven, was quickly in front and never looked like being caught.
In the end, the son of former shuttle stallion Jade Robbery posted a four length margin over Joyful Spirit (apprentice Alex Lai Hoi-wing), with Fuji Sunrise (Robbie Fradd) and eye-catching third, another three-quarters of a length away.
Despite going out hard, running his first 800 metres in 46.8 seconds, Phantom Thief still seemed to have plenty of energy left in reserve, finishing his last 400m in 24 seconds under a decent hold from Coetzee.
Phantom Thief has raced five times for Cruz and is yet to show his true form. His best effort was his sixth to Sunny Sing over 1,400m at Sha Tin on January 15 but even that day, he missed the start by a length.
