Beauty Generation’s (NZ) (Road To Rock) campaign ramped up a notch on Tuesday at Sha Tin with a 1000m turf barrier trial that connections hope will lead to a fourth consecutive win in the Gr.3 Celebration Cup Handicap (1400m) in a fortnight’s time.
“He’s come out of it well,” trainer David Hayes said. “He was beaten a bit for speed in the middle stages, but I thought through the line was pretty strong and more importantly Zac said he felt like his old self.”
The Road To Rock gelding returns for his sixth season with a Hong Kong record of more than HK$100 million in prize money in the bag and searching for his ninth Group One.
“He’ll be better at a mile and what I’m trying to do is have him at his best in December (for the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races) – just building him up,” Hayes said.
“I’m still learning with him, but I think he’ll tighten up and improve and have a gallop next week and he should be ready to go in two weeks’ time.”
Hong Kong’s two-time Horse of The Year joined the Hayes yard in the off-season following the departure of his previous handler John Moore from the Sha Tin training ranks.
“When you’ve won 18 races and over HK$100 million you don’t need to change much,” Hayes said. “I’m keeping him in a similar build-up to what he would normally have. I do most of his main gallops just for protection on the grass and he does a little bit of 1400 to the furlong work on the all-weather.”
“I take him to Penfold Park, he quite likes that, it’s a bit of a change for him,” Hayes said, referencing the trotting path in the public park inside the centre of Sha Tin racecourse.
Hayes indicated his plans for the champ following his intended bid for a record-equalling third HK$25 million Gr.1 Hong Kong Mile (1600m).
“If he’s running well I think he’ll probably go to the end of the season, there’s a lot of races for him, like the Stewards’ Cup, so I’m sure if he’s racing near his best then he’ll keep racing and if he loses his form then they’ll retire him,” Hayes said.
