International prelude day at Sha Tin was intended to showcase, even finalise likely candidates for the Longines Hong Kong International Races next month, but it became a day of heartbreaks and headaches.
It was a journey from the sublime of Able Friend's show-stealing Jockey Club Mile to the demolition derby confusion left by the Jockey Club Sprint.
John Moore was sticking to his story and reiterated that he had expected Able Friend to need the race at 1,600m to top him off after the five-year-old toyed with Gold-Fun and Ambitious Dragon and made himself a red-hot Hong Kong Mile favourite, regardless of which foreign contenders turn up.
Able Friend was never put under full pressure, but still put more than two lengths on the runner-up and jockey Joao Moreira would have made a statue look busy.
"I don't think I'll have to do much more with him in the next three weeks," said Moore, who could barely conceal his mirth at the press conference post-race, after one of the more impressive lead-ups in recent years.
Asked if he thought there was more improvement in Able Friend going towards the Hong Kong Mile, Moreira replied coyly: "There probably doesn't have to be much."
But the selections for the local Hong Kong Sprint team are now a Rubik's Cube wrapped inside a riddle within a conundrum, after three of the top Jockey Club Sprint runners - Aerovelocity, Lucky Nine and Sterling City - failed to make the frame after meeting severe traffic problems down the straight.
"You could run it again and you might get three different place-getters," said Caspar Fownes after Lucky Nine finished fifth and had an argument that he should have won, but he wasn't alone in that.
Tony Cruz-trained Peniaphobia staked his claim for the international races by winning and so did other lower-rated horses like Smart Volatility and Golden Harvest in finishing close.
But, with a cap on the number of local sprinters in the race, there will be much discussion and disappointment when the fields are announced on Wednesday.
The sensations in the Jockey Club Sprint did not end with the race, as Singapore's Spalato met defeat for the first time, finishing 13th, and trainer John O'Hara faces an adjourned stewards' inquiry after he later revealed that the five-year-old had been showing some restriction in his right hind leg on race morning and had not notified the stewards.
Cruz also took out the Jockey Club Cup as Blazing Speed played giant-killer again, grabbing Military Attack in the final stages and staking his claim for the Hong Kong Cup.
Moore said Designs On Rome's fifth was a case of "Joao Moreira being unfamiliar" with the Horse of the Year.
"Blazing Speed's got better as he has gotten older, like wine," said Cruz, who has won major features now at 1,600m, 2,000m and 2,400m with the gelding.
His ownership syndicate has been involved in a well-publicised court case over division of some of the HK$16 million in prize money won by the horse, even before yesterday's HK$2.2 million first prize, but their headaches might get worse with his emergence as a leading player for the HK$14.25 million Hong Kong Cup winner's cheque.
