The BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) winner Furore headlined an “all -star” barrier trial at Sha Tin this morning (Tuesday 16 April) which featured three G1 winners bound for the FWD QEII Cup (2000m) on 28 April.

The Frankie Lor trained four-year-old didn’t “win” the all-weather track trial – which included his stablemate Glorious Forever and the Tony Cruz-trained duo Exultant and Time Warp – but his campaign towards the 2000m G1 showpiece on Champions Day is well on target given the assessment of Regan Bayliss who rode him this morning.

“He’s really in the zone, this horse. He felt great and you can genuinely feel how focused he is. He’s obviously come out of the Derby very well and I’d imagine this would top him off nicely for the QEII (Cup),” Bayliss said of Furore’s one-length third behind Time Warp and Glorious Forever.

Bayliss will relinquish the race day reins, on 28 April, to countryman Hugh Bowman but significantly this was not the first time he’s been aboard the star four-year-old. He also rode him to third in a barrier trial just 12 days before his Derby success.

“I did trial him leading into the Derby and it was a very similar effort that morning so you’d say he’s on song. If anything, I’d say he felt even more in the zone this morning,” said the three-time G1-winning Australian who landed his third Hong Kong winner last Sunday.

Exultant, last year’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) winner finished an untested last of seven in the trial but jockey Zac Purton was unperturbed.

“The track’s not great out there this morning after the rain. There were lots of big, heavy clods coming back and I had to pull my visor down at the half mile (800 metres) because I couldn’t see. It’s not easy being back in the field under those conditions,” the champion jockey said.

“He never really trials that well on the dirt in any case and it’s a distance well short of his best so it was satisfactory. He just went through the motions and you couldn’t expect him to do too much on a track like that, so as long as he pulls up well I’ll be happy with that.”

The 2017 G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup winner Time Warp and his 2018 successor Glorious Forever trialled well, as they generally do, to finish first and second respectively with a head separating the brothers. Time Warp led, under Karis Teetan, while Glorious Forever rolled strongly through the line with Derek Leung aboard.

Trainer John Moore’s impressive Hong Kong Derby day debut winner Dan Control took the eye later in the session. The three-year-old Irish import was ‘cuddled’ by Zac Purton to pass the post a narrow but comfortable margin in front in heat three.

“He’s full of beans, he certainly tests you,” Purton said, “He jumps around like a kangaroo…all the time he’s hopping and skipping and playing. He began well and he wasn’t really over-racing but he’s got that tendency to want to play with the bit a little bit.  He does it in his gallops in the morning as well: it’s all a game for him at the moment.

“But he’s obviously got some talent. It was a nice effort to win first time out here in Hong Kong and it’s not easy to win first time out here as a PP (Private Purchase). It was a solid starting point for him and it looks like he’s got bigger things ahead.

“He’s not the biggest horse and next time out he’ll have to carry the weight which is a slight concern but he’s given all the indications he’s going to be able to handle it and hopefully continue the path he’s on.”