Judgement Day: chance for Tomodachi Kokoroe to show he is the real deal

Sunday’s Class 2 feature at Sha Tin will decide where David Hayes’ wildly impressive last-start winner, Tomodachi Kokoroe, will head next: the G2 Premier Bowl on October 26 at Sha Tin, or a Class 2 sprint at Happy Valley on November 2.

Hayes’ seven-year-old produced a big career-best performance when he blew apart a strong Class 2 field under Harry Bentley at Sha Tin on September 28, stopping the clock in 67.76 seconds - a time that only Ka Ying Rising and Helios Express were quicker than throughout last season.

On Sunday, Tomodachi Kokoroe will have his chance to show he can replicate that blistering effort over the same 1,200m course. This time, though, he will have a 10-point rise and a wide berth in barrier 11 to contend with.

“It was a career peak and he’s shown no signs of going backwards,” Hayes said. “Let’s hope it wasn’t a one off.

“After Sunday, we have two options. If he wins, he’ll be in the Premier Bowl, but if not, he’ll be running at Happy Valley the week later.”

Tomodachi Kokoroe was a consistent sort before his impressive win last month, but all four of his previous victories in Hong Kong had come at Happy Valley. He was also without a victory since February last year.

But that wasn’t enough to dampen the confidence of Bentley, who said he was hopeful of a big run from Tomodachi Kokore after some pleasing work in the mornings.

“I thought he would run really well, but I wasn’t expecting to do it in quite the fashion he did,” Bentley said. “The way he travelled into things and quickened once I asked him, not many horses here have given me quite that feel.”

While Bentley admits his wide draw may make life difficult in the contest - the ninth on Sha Tin’s 10-race card - the Englishman is confident Hayes’ charge heads there in fantastic form.

“The wide draw is less than ideal to be honest and it looks like there could be quite a bit of pace, so I don’t think it will be as easy as pushing forward and slotting in. But the horse is in great form and I couldn’t be happier with how he’s going.”