Line Seeker led throughout to hold off Sky Hero in the Griffin Trophy by a narrow margin at Sha Tin.
Strathmore pressed the winner from the start and finished third with Dashing Fellow fourth in this HK$2 million contest.
The win was the second in a row for Line Seeker, sent off as top favourite in a field of 13. The son of O'Reilly, ridden by Zac Purton, covered the 1400m distance in 1m 21.70s, with the final 400m in 22.95s.
“He really got tired the last bit but he ran a 22.06s in the middle and he did a bit,” said winning trainer Paul O’Sullivan, who teamed up with Purton to win the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint with Aerovelocity a fortnight ago.
O'Sullivan said he may drop Line Seeker back to 1200m for his next start, but he was more than glowing in his assessment of the O’Reilly gelding's ability.
“You won’t be seeing him for another two, three runs this season. He could come back and be a nice sprinter later on,” the New Zealand handler said. “He is a very skinny, long horse but he is very athletic. He is never going to be big and strong like me.”
Last year's Griffin Trophy featured horses such as Luger and Domineer, both rated now in triple digits.
