Tony Cruz continues to put pressure on his rivals in the four-cornered contest for the trainers' championship
Tony Cruz continues to put pressure on his rivals in the four-cornered contest for the trainers' championship and he looks to have another strong team, headed by Circuit Star in the Hing Tung Handicap (1,650m) at Happy Valley tonight.
Cruz (pictured) keeps chipping away with ones and twos to be two off Dennis Yip Chor-hong in the chase for his third title and it is steady, handy types like Circuit Star (Matthew Chadwick) that can make or break a yard in a tight battle.
Circuit Star took a while to get things in order after arriving as a three-year-old last season and was fairly keen early on, but since the penny dropped midway through this term the unimposing gelding has put together seven runs for two wins, three placings and two fourths.
He was just nudged out in a photo by Vital Gold last start over this course after settling off the pace against the rail, beating the remainder comfortably.
From gate one, Circuit Star shapes to get a similar type of run, not wasting any energy until Chadwick calls on him to finish it off in the last 300m.
Having that low draw is ordinarily a positive on the "C+3" course but may be even more so in this race as it appears devoid of pace.
Only Blossom Daily and Horse Aplenty (Howard Cheng Yue-tin) might be thought of as forward-running horses - unless Cultural City deigns to jump cleanly and presses on - so giving away a start is not going to be the recipe for success and Circuit Star should remain in touch as he takes the short cuts through the race.
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