JADE Age can stamp his quality all over the final event on a fantastic day's racing at Sha Tin this afternoon. A quality St Andrew's Challenge Quaich and a competitive Hermes Cup provide the highlights while Jade Age can provide a few extra dollars to boot. David Oughton's Irish import impressed virtually from the moment he first stepped onto the track last season and duly won on his debut in the territory. He showed tremendous fighting spirit to overcome a buffeting from Tim's Joy down the back straight to run down Bo Shing Winner close home over an inadequate 1,400 metres. He then disappointed behind Heavily Armed in a run which can only be put down to second-up syndrome, whereby a new horse, fresh enough to run well at the first time of asking, is then left flattened by the experience and fails to reproduce the form. It is seen time and time again from the first-season imports. But Jade Age's next two runs have confirmed that he is destined to go on and make his presence felt in Class One, let alone against the Class Two company he faces today. On his final start of last season he forced Heavily Armed to pull out all the stops, running him to a hard-fought head, with Aashiq beaten three-quarters of a length in third and the first three pulling clear of Magic Joy who in turn was well clear of fifth-placed Fukien Boy. That form has an extremely solid feel to it and was confirmed by Jade Age's reappearance effort when a close third to Stellar Express and Conticasta over 1,900 metres at Sha Tin. Again the first three pulled well clear of their rivals, which is always a sign of good form. Indeed the race is working out as Fortune Ride (10th) has come out and won, Gran Senorum (12th) has since run third and the last horse, Amigo (13th) ran a fair fourth to Palette Star on Wednesday night. Now that Jade Age is a more seasoned performer, there should be few qualms about the second-up syndrome striking again and his subsequent work, including a testing and pleasing gallop when he dominated Face The Odds on Tuesday morning, indicates he has progressed well since that run. He may have most to fear from David Hill's Amza Glory who will benefit from the move to a 1,800 metres. Amza Glory shaped nicely on his reappearance, keeping on well over 1,400 metres and he has worked well since. The improving Feodor cannot be left out while Miss Piggy could still figure in the tierce despite trainer Wong Tang-ping booking an inexperienced girl apprentice. But it is Icy Bet who could really introduce value into the tierce as he has slipped down to an exceptionally low handicap mark compared to his best form of last season. It looks significant that Willie Ryan is aboard Icy Bet, seemingly in preference to trainer Brian Kan Ping-chee's other runner in the race, Village Bard. All Good caught the eye on his reappearance, and on a couple of occasions last season. He is another who will benefit from a move to 1,800 metres from 1,400 metres, but the engagement of the unfashionable Frankie Lor hardly does wonders for betting confidence. Patrick Biancone introduces a potentially exciting performer in the well-bred Hung Hing Tai in the eighth event. The son of Marauding's work suggests he will go very close to making a winning debut.
