A sensational barrier trial by Amber Sky has put a shot at consecutive wins in the Group One Al Quoz Sprint firmly back on the agenda and left jockey Joao Moreira with a tough decision on who to ride in the US$1 million dash on Dubai World Cup night.
Moreira partnered Amber Sky to victory in last year's Al Quoz and although Ricky Yiu Poon-fai's speed machine has lost form since then, Tuesday's powerful display in a 1,000m turf trial at Sha Tin indicated the five-year-old could be back to his brilliant best.
The Brazilian jockey, who later trialled another Al Quoz-bound entrant, Bundle Of Joy, said while Amber Sky's trial compared favourably to his eye-catching display 12 months earlier, he would "wait and see" how the sprinter recovered before choosing which horse to ride.
"Amber Sky's trial was very good. He absolutely bolted, just like last year before he went and won in Dubai, but he has had some problems. Let's wait and see if he is well," Moreira said.
Amber Sky flopped last time out in the Group One Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup, behind another Al Quoz-bound sprinter in Tony Cruz's Peniaphobia, after a stop-start preparation due to muscle soreness, and then missed another two weeks of work after the flat unplaced effort.
Early indications after Tuesday's workout, where Amber Sky stormed up the straight under a hold in a time 0.8 seconds faster than he did in the lead-up trial last year, were that the gelding had pulled up without any issues.
"He was fine, but I wasn't concerned about when we pulled up," Moreira said. "I want to hear what they say in the next few days after the horse has cooled down. When a horse first comes back from a trial like that he is still warm and full of adrenaline. You can't tell if he is feeling any soreness. He is a horse that gives all of himself when he goes on the track. Let's hope he is OK and then we will see."
David Hall-trained Bundle Of Joy would have given Moreira food for thought with his own impressive trial display over the same course and distance shortly afterwards, comfortably winning his heat while running 57.69s, exactly half a second slower than Amber Sky.
"It will be a hard decision as to which horse I will ride in Dubai and he is under consideration as well," Moreira said.
In the opening heat of the morning, Moreira partnered Hong Kong's highest-rated horse, Able Friend, with trainer John Moore having backed off the giant chestnut ahead of dropping back to the 1,400m of next weekend's Group One Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup.
Able Friend had an easy time, allowed to loaf along in midfield before finishing fifth, with neither trainer nor jockey concerned after the leisurely effort.
"He didn't trial outstandingly," Moreira admitted. "But John has been looking after him and because of that he was probably off his best form. I am not worried, he has never been a flash track worker anyway."
Moore added: "There's still a little more spit and polish to apply before the next race. The horse put some weight back on, but that's OK, because we know his ultimate target is the Champions Mile in May, and that means that we have to keep him up for quite a long time."
