The close finish to last Saturday's Lantau Island Handicap for Class Two sprinters may have given the impression that the race was substandard, but a detailed analysis of the race shows the truth lies at the opposite end of the quality spectrum.
Winner Ultra Fantasy won the race by a short head in a four-way photo, but the winning time of 1:09.6 calculated out as being 0.1 seconds faster than standard after factoring out the speed of the track on the day. And that was surprisingly quick, given that the race was steadily run in the early and middle stages.
Of the major players here, Ultra Fantasy is perhaps the least likely to score next time. He had absolutely all the favours, with blinkers first time, a cheap transit and all the breaks coming his way precisely when Manoel Nunes wanted them.
For runner-up King Encosta, no such favours applied. He drew barrier 14 and jockey Gerald Mosse had no luck getting him across. He ultimately sat three deep outside the leaders for the entire journey and fought on bravely to go down by such a narrow margin.
This son of Encosta De Lago is trained by Tony Cruz and has built up a formidable record, with three wins from eight starts and never out of the first four.
Friendly Gains, a three-year-old from New Zealand, was a nose away in third after bouncing to the front and being left there when the riders of other runners were unwilling to take it up.