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Class acts in Friday trials and Callan��s happy with Beauty Only

22/04/2016

Beauty Only warmed up for the HK$14 million G1 Champions Mile on 1 May with a pipe-opener in a star-packed barrier trial at Sha Tin this morning (22 April).

Neil Callan, a regular ally and the man on board for the gelding’s biggest wins, the 2015 HKG1 Hong Kong Classic Mile and the HKG2 Chairman’s Trophy last start, was in the plate.

“He felt great and I’m very happy with him,” said the Irishman, with the elite test only nine days away.

Beauty Only took his place in the 1200m all-weather heat alongside fellow Champions Mile entrants Contentment, Gun Pit and stablemate Beauty Flame; as well as the exciting sprinters Thewizardofoz and Amazing Kids, both destined for the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize a week Sunday.

With Beauty Flame setting a speedy tempo up front, Callan was content to settle Beauty Only three out from the rail in fifth spot, about five lengths or so off the pace with John Size’s G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup winner Contentment close at hand, tight to the paint. The Size-trained Thewizardofoz stalked another length back, inside stablemate Amazing Kids, while the Caspar Fownes-trained Gun Pit camped in a detached last pair around 15 lengths off the lead.

“The purpose of the trial was to get Beauty Only out, stretch his legs and just have him a blow under his own steam,” said Callan. “If I’d wanted to, like I have done in the past, I could have pressed forward and put pressure on him and I would have kept up with them, no problems. But the pace of the trial was quite strong and I didn't want to get him into a duel - there’s plenty of time on the first of May to get him into a duel!”

Beauty Flame was pushed on by Matthew Chadwick to pass the post ahead of the rest in 1m 09.67s; Thewizardofoz cruised through impressively to second, Joao Moreira holding a tight rein; Contentment, switched out into the home straight, kept on well for third under Brett Prebble; Beauty Only ran on without pressure in fifth; Gun Pit was nudged home for a ground-devouring late sprint to sixth; Amazing Kids seemed lacklustre in tapering out to 15 and a half lengths eighth of the nine.

Callan was delighted with Beauty Only: “He’s in great form, he’s been racing well and he’s fit, so he only needs to have a blowout to tick him over. I’m happy with what he did this morning and very happy with how he felt.”

That was the first of three trials and in the last of the trio the Cruz-trained Peniaphobia warmed up for the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize with a 1050m spin around the all-weather. Chadwick bounced the G1 Hong Kong Sprint winner to the lead and Peniaphobia made all through driving rain to ‘win’ the trial comfortably, just nudged a touch late on to put a length and a half on the field of eight. The five-year-old was clocked at 1m 02.31s.

Beauty Only (outside) finishes fifth in a 1200m dirt barrier trial today with Neil Callan on board.
Photo 1:
Beauty Only (outside) finishes fifth in a 1200m dirt barrier trial today with Neil Callan on board.

 

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