Group racing at Sha Tin again on Sunday, with rising star Able Friend making his reappearance and thrown in against some high class older runners in the Group Two Chairman’s Trophy over 1,600m.
The John Moore-trained four-year-old was considered a query at 2,000m in the Derby last start and found stablemate Designs On Rome too strong at the end of that trip. He drops back to what should prove his optimum distance now and will be carrying a huge amount of punter support despite stepping out of races against his own age group to take on some tough older gallopers.
Moore had originally planned to go straight to the international Group One level in the Champions Mile on May 4 with Able Friend, but felt the six-week break between runs was not the ideal preparation to take on the elite level.
The Chairman’s Trophy is a small field and so is the other black type event, the Bauhinia Sprint Trophy over 1,000m, where another hugely promising four-year-old in Divine Ten moves from the regular handicap classes into the Group Three.
Douglas Whyte replaces the suspended Joao Moreira on Divine Ten and, importantly, makes the extra effort to get down to the 115 pounds handicap weight – something he does rarely these days and only for special occasions.
With the light weight, Divine Ten looks to hold firm favouritism to make his record five wins and an unlucky third from six starts, all at the Sha Tin 1,000m, while there will be some support for another young up and comer in Golden Harvest. Since he was gelded this time last year, Golden Harvest has had 7 starts for 3 wins, 3 seconds and a third, but he has never been tried down the quirky straight five course or any other distance at Sha Tin.
By Nathan Mody
