The number which had the most significance for trainer David Hall in the last race before Christmas was the second sectional time run by Short Squeeze in the Beas River Handicap (1,400m) that paved the way for Berlini's big win.
Berlini (Douglas Whyte) had been a beaten favourite at his last two starts in moderately run races at 1,400m and then 1,600m when Joao Moreira had put the four-year-old somewhere handy to the speed to keep him in striking range.
"It just didn't work. Tactically you might think it was what you had to do to not give the leaders too much of a start but the result was that he got caught a bit wide and exposed, overraced badly and didn't finish the races off anyway," said Hall.
"The key is getting him to relax so today we forgot about the tempo considerations and just rode the horse the way he needs to be ridden. I asked Douglas to be negative out of the gates, get some cover back in the field, switch him off and let him finish the race off."
On paper, there didn't look to be a great speed before the race and that could have been a problem, but when Hall looked up at the television monitors as the field completed the first 600m and he saw a second section of 21.47 seconds, his heart jumped.
"When you've got a horse that wants a bit of speed on like this, it puts a bit of wind in your sails to see them running along like that," the trainer said.
"Usually when they're breaking 22 second for that section, you know the run on horses can get into it."
Berlini even had time to be held up at the rear of the field at the top of the straight before sprouting wings in the final 200m to swamp the leaders as they tired and ultimately won by almost a length.
"I've no doubt that Berlini will run out a strong 1,600m in time and perhaps even further than that," Hall said.
"But he's still doing things wrong, he is still learning so for now I'll probably have to keep him to shorter races so that he gets the tempo he needs."
The win was Hall's 300th in Hong Kong but he was spared the fanfare that usually accompanies these milestones as it was the last race before a week-long Christmas break and many, including Hall, were charging out of the course to catch flights.
