The three International Trial races will be thrown open to invited overseas runners looking for a suitable lead-up run into the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races this year, reports the HK Racing Post. It says: The first will be the International Cup Trial (2,000m) on November 15, then the Sprint Trial (1,200m) and Mile Trial on November 22, with a further three weeks until the international meeting itself on December 13.International racing manager Mark Player said the catalyst to pus

The three International Trial races will be thrown open to invited overseas runners looking for a suitable lead-up run into the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races this year, reports the HK Racing Post.

It says: The first will be the International Cup Trial (2,000m) on November 15, then the Sprint Trial (1,200m) and Mile Trial on November 22, with a further three weeks until the international meeting itself on December 13.

International racing manager Mark Player said the catalyst to pushing ahead with the change had been Australian sprinter Scenic Blast, who shares the world's highest rating with Hong Kong's Sacred Kingdom.

"We were particularly keen to get Scenic Blast here for a showdown with Sacred Kingdom and our other top sprinters in December," Player (pictured) said. "But the problem for his trainer, Danny Morton, is that the horse is going to run in the Sprinters' Stakes [in Japan on October 4], which is more than two months before Hong Kong.

"Now he is required to leave Japan after that race, but returning to England, where he has been since the July Cup, was going to be his only option. He could not return to Australia and then come back here. Not only is going back to England before he comes here a tough ask of a horse, but he would have been going there when the weather is starting to get cold."

In terms of the horse's preparation for December, the chance to run over the course and distance three weeks early appealed to Morton. "Seventy days between runs was not going to be an ideal preparation for a race like the Hong Kong Sprint. This way, Scenic Blast gets a suitable race, the fans get to see him run against most of his main opposition for the race in December, and everyone has a better idea of how he lines up on the big day," Player said.

"As awareness of our international races continues to rise, it's important we make it as appealing as possible for people to bring horses here and know they are going to do themselves justice; if that means providing a lead-up opportunity then we believe we should do that.

"It is something a number of trainers have canvassed with us in recent years. In other countries, domestic programmes are not designed to fit into a Hong Kong campaign."