EISHIN FLASH enjoyed an eve of race spin on the turf at Sha Tin Racecourse this morning as the four overseas contenders for tomorrow’s HK$14 million G1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup went through their final preparations.

Japan’s big hope, who added last year’s G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) to his previous top-flight win in the 2010 Japanese Derby, went a half gallop under the watch of his trainer, Hideaki Fujiwara. The athletic six-year-old covered the final 800M in 56.6 seconds (24.4 seconds for the last 400M).

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  EISHIN FLASH

“We wanted to confirm the track condition on turf once more this morning.  He was very settled and seemed to be ready for tomorrow’s big event mentally as well.  He is full of beans and is in great order,” said Fujiwara.

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  SAJJHAA

“The fact that jockey Mirco Demuro will be on board encourages us as he rode the horse in last year’s Tenno Sho, which he won – hopefully we can make the same story.  I understand there are many top runners in the field including the very good horses from Hong Kong, so it will be difficult, but I trust him and hope he can show his best performance tomorrow.”

Under the supervision of trainer Saeed bin Suroor, Godolphin’s G1 Dubai Duty Free heroine SAJJHAA went for a steady canter on the all-weather track, with the clock showing 33.0s for the final 400m. Meanwhile, Mike de Kock’s pair, South Africa’s champion mare IGUGU and stablemate TREASURE BEACH, each cantered for a lap.

fonte: HK Jockey Club