Rad regained winning form with a trail-blazing length and a half victory in the HKG3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy at Sha Tin on Tuesday, much to the relief of trainer David Hall.

“I think you have to say it is a bit of a relief. To have a horse like that, that showed the potential he showed, to have him come back is great,” said the Australian handler after Douglas Whyte had steered the Foreplay five-year-old to victory over the straight 1000m in a time of 55.78s.

Hall had guided the gelding to three wins from as many starts in two light Hong Kong campaigns prior to this term but that unbeaten record vanished at the first attempt this season.

Rad finished only ninth that day behind Bundle Of Joy in the HKG3 National Day Cup in October and, after a well-beaten 13th in a 1200m Class 2 in November, the speedster was sidelined with a couple of niggling issues.

“He had a bit of a boom on him and then it was quite unfortunate what happened with him first start this season,” said Hall.

“I didn’t think he was ready for the race and we had to run him. The outcome was not good – he pulled up with a bit of muscle soreness and then his next run he had to go 1200m, because of the way the program is.

“He didn’t handle that too well – he pulled up with a bit of heart strain. We were really behind the eight ball, so to see him bounce back in that sort of form and run his time again, and beat a quality field – without the very top guns there – it was a bit of a relief. It was certainly good to see!”

Today’s performance was a throwback to Rad’s previous winning ewfforts.

With only 117lb on his back, the Australian-bred burst from gate 13 and passed his stablemate Master Kochanwong (118lb) to lead the field after about 250m.

Whyte shook the reins around a furlong out and the horse that has promised so much quickened down the stands’ side rail to secure a first career pattern race win.

The John Size-trained Teofilo Calva (119lb) took second place under Karis Teetan, while the John Moore-trained Not Listenin’tome (113lb), a G1-placed Australian import, kept on to claim third on his Hong Kong debut.

“Initially we just wanted to get him back and I haven’t made any future plans,” added Hall. “I can’t tell you what my next move will be. Obviously his health will be the most important thing and then we will think about what his next race will be.”

Last season’s Bauhinia Sprint Trophy winner Divine Ten was withdrawn from the race on Monday due to a sore tendon in his right fore-leg.