The track surface was being put to the test as much as the horses were at Happy Valley on Friday night as the circuit hosted its first barrier trials in more than six months and came away with a pass mark from jockeys and trainers.
The two repatched turf sections were galloped over in a set of eight trials ahead of the daytime meeting in seven days, the first fixture at the venue since June.
Chris So Wai-yin's unraced four-year-old Rugby Diamond (Joao Moreira) was one of the most impressive to step out under lights - his trial was slow in time, but he got to the line in style. Rugby Diamond had already completed four trials in Australia, and looked well educated and may not need much more work to have him ready for raceday.
The ominous presence of Ambitious Dragon may have ensured his name made the headlines after Tuesday's monster set of turf trials, but it was another son of Pins that announced himself as a promising horse as he finished right alongside the two-time Horse of the Year.
Ricky Yiu Poon-fai's Packing Pins (Neil Callan) had been given three previous trials by trainer Ricky Yiu Poon-fai, and came to town after a solitary trial in New Zealand.
A full brother to Group Two winning mare Shopaholic, Packing Pins seems set for a race start after the forward showing. Wearing a shadow roll for the first time, Packing Pins was a little awkward away, but settled well and responded fairly to challenge Ambitious Dragon at the end of 1,000m.
There were other unraced prospects to catch the eye, with Derek Cruz-trained PPG Bossiee (Brett Prebble) looking good in his first outing for the trainer. Bossiee will take a lot from the trial, where he wanted to go a touch hard but was pulled in for cover by Prebble, and taught to relax. Once pulled into the clear late, he got to the line to win under a serious hold, albeit on the best part of the track and in slow time.
John Size has shown extreme patience, even by his standards, with a strapping son of Exceed And Excel named Shadowfaxe (Joao Moreira). He easily won his 800m heat by two lengths, with the rare use of ear plugs employed in an effort to get the four-year-old to relax.
Shadowfaxe has been with Size for 18 months now and is yet to make his debut, the trainer turning the youngster out for five months after he suffered a bleed following a February barrier trial.
That was the horse's fifth trial, and while he had shown lots of early pace and overall ability, getting the gelding to settle is the challenge for Size and his staff. An 800m trial ran in slow time (47.25s) might have been a better test of the horse's race manners than internal issues, but Shadowfaxe did his work easily enough.
Paul O'Sullivan's unraced three-year-old Line Seeker (Zac Purton) is a horse that has caught the attention of track watchers since his arrival early this year, and continues to make improvement.
The son of O'Reilly was failed after racing erratically in his first trial in April, hanging and inconveniencing other runners, but has since put together a couple of more grounded efforts without losing his excellent early speed. Line Seeker bounded away with his 800m trial, effortlessly carving out a final 400m section of 22.2s.
