Ridden by Zac Purton, Aerovelocity took the HKG1 Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin last season.
Aerovelocity (NZ) (Pins) had that fire in his belly indicative of his wellbeing before confirming as much with a smart barrier trial performance at Sha Tin this morning (Friday, 23 September).
The bull-headed bay sent folk shifting for cover as he bowled across the sand yard and then worked his lads at a jog through the tunnel. Regular ally Zac Purton was, as usual, legged up trackside and then bounced the triple G1 winner to the lead in the 12-runner heat, a position he retained right to the post as he clocked 1m 02.07s through 1050m on the all-weather.
It was a smart first trial of the season for the 2014 G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) winner. The New Zealand-bred Pins gelding is aiming to get back on track after an aborted second tilt at Japan's G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1200m) in March.Aerovelocity suffered a bout of colic during that trip and his one outing since that health setback brought a below par eighth in the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin on 1 May.
"He got a 'pass' from Zac and that's hard to get," said a chirpy Paul O'Sullivan, Aerovelocity's trainer, post-trial. "He's still pretty big in condition but he's got another trial and then a couple of races leading into the international (Hong Kong Sprint) but he's eight years old and anything from here on in will be a bonus - but this morning was very good.
"The plan is the Premier Bowl (23 October) followed by the trial sprint in November and then the Hong Kong Sprint. It worked two years ago!"