Designs On Rome continued his preparation for the G1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin on April 27 with a 1000m turf barrier trial at the track on Tuesday.
The John Moore-trained four-year-old saw off stablemate Able Friend to land an epic renewal of the HKG1 BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) at the course on 16 March, and in 12 days will bid to become only the third horse to follow Derby glory with success in the QEII Cup in the same season.
Tommy Berry was aboard for the Holy Roman Emperor gelding’s Derby triumph and will be back on board for the QEII Cup, but it was Karis Teetan who got the leg up for the trial.
The Mauritian rider was pleased with the effort of Designs On Rome who travelled in behind his nine fellow triallists as the smart young sprinter, Rad, led them home in 58.48s.
As expected, the Derby winner found the pace hot over the minimum trip, but closed off to finish three lengths eighth in 58.95s.
“Teetan came back in and said he travelled well in the trial,” said Moore. “You’re going 1000 metres with a horse that’s being dropped out and asked to settle, and we know he races in patches – I think he made four runs to win the Derby.
“All in all I’m very happy with the trial. I would have rather gone over the mile where he could really settle and just get into his rhythm and everything, but they couldn’t get enough runners for that today so we had to drop him back to the 1000m. I’m happy with the prep and we’re going into the QEII with high hopes.
“After the Derby he just needed that break to get the bodyweight on again and to freshen up, and the trial today just topped it off. I really think he’ll be a force to reckon with in the QEII.”
Moore also had word on last season’s QEII Cup victor and Horse of the Year Military Attack, who ran 10th in the G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan last start and came out of quarantine this week.
“We’ll assess him and just make sure he’s a chance in the big race, with respect to his condition, early next week,” Moore said.
Also in the same trial as Designs On Rome, Moore’s G1 Champions Mile hopes Dan Excel and Flagship Shine went through their paces as they warmed up for the second of Hong Kong’s spring international races on May 4.
Last year’s victor, Dan Excel, went well enough under Derek Leung to cross the line a length and a quarter third in a time of 58.67s, while Neil Callan was aboard the fourth home, Flagship Shine (58.76s).
