The all-weather barrier trials were blessed with a liberal splash of class yesterday when Tony Cruz sent out his brilliant chestnut Floral Pegasus, who made easy work of the opener in scoring by five lengths.
Brett Prebble was having his first ride on Floral Pegasus, and the son of 2000 Kentucky Derby hero Fusaichi Pegasus got straight to work, coasting across the face of the field from barrier seven to take up the running.
It was something like the Floral Pegasus of old as Prebble opened him up from the 600m and the handsome colt responded instantly. He was six or seven lengths in front at the 200m, with his rider taking it easy in the final 200m, otherwise the margin might have been almost doubled.
Floral Pegasus was the best four-year-old in early 2007. He won the New Year's Day Cup (Gr 3), the Mercedes-Benz Classic Mile (Gr 1) and the Derby Trial (Gr 2), before being nosed out of the Hong Kong Derby in the final stride by Vital King.
The stallion did not win last preparation, although he did run well in several majors, gaining second place in the Stewards' Cup (behind Good Ba Ba) and Hong Kong Gold Cup (Viva Pataca) as well as a respectable seventh in the US$5 million Dubai Duty Free at his first overseas excursion.
Being an entire, Floral Pegasus has a very strong, masculine appearance, and his trial performance is a good pointer because he's not yet right in the coat and should continue to improve.
The sectional times for the final three furlongs show Floral Pegasus clocked 34.31, 22.3 and 11.55 seconds - further proof of the quality of his performance.