Time After Time won't go to Ascot
Trainer John Moore liked what he saw from Time After Time on Sunday, despite his defeat in the Sha Tin Vase, but the five-year-old's ownership syndicate apparently did not and a tilt at Royal Ascot has been abandoned.
Moore was informed yesterday that the syndicate had voted against going to the Golden Jubilee Stakes next month after Time After Time's close-up seventh to stablemate Charles The Great in the Sha Tin Vase under top weight of 133 pounds.
"It wasn't a unanimous decision, I was told, but the end result is that we won't be going to England," Moore said. "The jockey, Gerald Mosse, and I both thought the run was full of merit and we'd be going to England with a live chance if he travelled well.
"It's disappointing because I think Time After Time is right at his career peak now and this is the time to take him away somewhere for a major race and this looked the right race over a testing 1,200m."
Moore will now target the Group Three Premier Cup (1,400m) at Sha Tin on June 16 with the horse.
"It's a suitable distance but unfortunately there are no terms races left this season. It's another handicap like the Sha Tin Vase and it means Time After Time will probably have 133 pounds to carry again and he'll probably have to play the brave bridesmaid to the lighter weighted horses again," Moore said.
Hong Kong will now be unrepresented at Royal Ascot this year, and the season's international scene will conclude with Glorious Days and Helene Spirit in the Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo on Sunday.
In other news, trainer Sean Woods' appeal against a HK$100,000 fine was dismissed yesterday by the Jockey Club appeal board and the trainer's deposit forfeited. Woods was charged with misconduct and fined by the stewards on April 30 after comments by him were reported in a article in March.
