BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) winner Furore caught the eye, running on for third under Grant van Niekerk in a dirt track barrier trial at Sha Tin on Tuesday, 17 September. Frankie Lor's charge has not been seen in action since finishing a disappointing 10th in the Group 1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) in April.
“I just wanted to give him a little bit of a chance and then run on,” the South African jockey said. “They went quite slow early on so he was a bit keen but he finished off pretty good and I'm very happy with him. He travelled and he finished off so he's quite fit and he's a really nice horse to be on.”
The five-year-old is expected to return to action in the Group 3 Cleberation Cup Handicap (1400m) on 1 October, when he will likely meet Hong Kong high-weight Beauty Generation.
Another set for that contest is Derby runner-up and QEII 12th Waikuku. John Size's charge was prominent in Tuesday's trial and kept on soundly for Joao Moreira.
“Last time when I trialled him, I could feel that he was quite far back and I was expecting him to improve into this trial but not by as much as he did, so he surprised me how he trialled today. I'm really happy with him and I'm looking forward to riding him in the race,” Moreira said.
Size was satisfied too: “It looked fine. The horse had trained up nicely and that was his second trial this morning, it looked like a sound trial so I think everything's on track for when he returns to racing. He'll probably run on 1 October.”