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Questions about whether the classy sprinter Rocket Man is back to his best remained unanswered after track work at Sha Tin this morning.
The Patrick Shaw-trained Singaporean sprint champion was the first of the international horses on the track this morning as he put in a solid, if unspectacular piece of work on the turf under his big race jockey Barend Vorster.
Under Shaws watchful eye from the stands, Rocket Man worked over 800m, the last 400m in 23.1 seconds ahead of his CXHK Sprint engagement on Sunday.
Rocket Man has raced just once since his first unplaced career run in the G1 Sprinters Stakes in Japan where he had no luck in the straight.
The Viscount gelding comes into Sunday's race on the back of a lack lustre win on Kranji's polytrack on November 11th.
Also out on the turf was the Irish speedster Sole Power, who had a gallop on the turf, without being asked to do anything too energetic, putting in a final 400m in 29.7 seconds.
Another CXHK Sprint candidate, the James Fanshawe-trained Society Rock stepped out at Sha Tin for the first time on the all weather track with routine exercise going a half mile in 57.2 seconds
Fanshawe who will be saddling his first runner in Hong Kong when Society Rock lines up in the CXHK Sprint on Sunday watched his charge closely.
“He seems to be fine and all has gone well with him so far, we'll wait and see how he draws tomorrow. He'll probably have a bit of a breeze on the turf on Friday, nothing spectacular, he's done all his work at home,” Fanshawe remarked after the gallop.
Meanwhile UK trainer Charles Hills has yet to arrive in Hong Kong, but his pair of hopefuls Redwood (CXHK Vase) and Ransom Note (CXHK Cup) were out on the All Weather track watched by Hills' travelling head lad Geoff Snook.
Redwood looked very much on his toes as he threw in a couple of bucks as he arrived on the track before settling into his routine canter, but Snook was not concerned. “All is well with him. Yes he's on his toes, but with him, that's a good sign,” he explained.
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