Lamborgini sets the standard (3 Oct)

MARK YOUR CARD by MURRAY BELL

The scorching time set by Flaming Lamborgini in winning the National Day Cup at Sha Tin - 1,400 metres in 1:20.4, slashing 0.6 seconds off the course record - may read like a Fairy King Prawn performance, but punters would be well advised to listen attentively to the words of trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing.

"I'd just like to remind people that they were running fast times all day," Shum said on Sunday.

"Even a Class Four race earlier clocked 1:21.7, so the track is extraordinarily fast. I don't deny it was a good win, but that time is definitely a bit too flattering."

So what do we make of it? To make sense of times, it's necessary to calculate the actual speed of the track on the day. In other words, how much of that record time was horse ability, and how much of it was the prevailing conditions?

The standard we have used for this grade is the same as Class One - 1:22.0 seconds. And that means the winning time is quicker than standard by 1.6 seconds. But according to Mark Your Card's calculations, 1.25 seconds of that time was brought about by the quickness of the surface on a day when fast times were commonplace.

That means the "real" time for Flaming Lamborgini was only 0.35 seconds quicker than standard.

It basically means that Flaming Lamborgini has returned to racing at his established best and, on that criteria, should be in for a good season.

And it's not as big a class rise as some may think from this kind of race to the group events later in the term.

Flaming Lamborgini denied a game attempt by Helene Pillaging to lead throughout, with the Tony Cruz-trained sprinter falling only three-quarters of a length short after apprentice Jacky Tong Chi-kit looked "home" at the 200m. Helene Pillaging has returned in cracking form and is rating to his best once more.

Green Treasure ran a smashing third at his first start for his new trainer Caspar Fownes.

It was a far better performance from him than in the same race 12 months earlier, and that augurs well for his build-up to a rematch with Vengeance Of Rain in the Hong Kong Cup Trial over 2,000m at Sha Tin next month; Green Treasure ran second to Vengeance Of Rain in last year's Trial, aided by a five-pound pull in the weights.

HORSES TO FOLLOW: Green Treasure, Art Trader, Only You.