Packing Hermod, Helios Express emerge for barrier trials at Sha Tin

By Declan Schuster

Packing Hermod shapes as one of Hong Kong’s most exciting prospects this season and, ahead of his four-year-old campaign, the impressive youngster reappeared for a barrier trial on Monday morning (23 September) at Sha Tin alongside Helios Express and Galaxy Patch.

Firing to an early lead, Packing Hermod finished a restrained second under Zac Purton in 1m 12.03s over 1200m on the dirt course. The talent won his only two races in Hong Kong by a combined five and a half lengths over 1200m last season.

“He trialled well. He’s a lightly-framed horse, he doesn’t carry a lot of condition and he raced at the end of last season, so he was always going to come to hand pretty quickly.

“He’s been working that way as well, so it was no surprise to see him come out and trial like he did. He’ll trial again before he races. He’s not going to race until the end of next month,” Purton said.

The 74-rating son of Rubick is eligible for the HK$52 million Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which commences in January, 2025. Trained by Francis Lui, the gelding toyed with quality opposition last start in Class 3 at Sha Tin.

Galaxy Patch finished fourth in a time of 1m 12.24s for trainer Pierre Ng, while Hugh Bowman returned pleased with Helios Express’ effort, who was fifth in 1m 12.62s.

Victorious in the first two legs of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series – the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) and HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) – last season, the 102-rating Helios Express is a six-time winner for trainer John Size.

Owned by Andy Yung, Helios Express hasn’t raced since finishing eighth in the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) last March. He resumed trackwork in early August.

“I was happy. He looked well, it was the first time I’ve sat on him for quite some time, but he felt good. He wasn’t out to break any records but considering it’s his first public outing for a long time I thought it was a pretty forward trial,” Bowman said.

“He’ll have natural improvement, obviously.”

Bowman also partnered Howdeepisyourlove for Size, a five-time winner from 21 starts, who managed to finish fourth and third at Group 2 and Group 3 level, respectively, last season.

“He was good, he actually found the 1050 (metres) a bit quick, which is unusual because he’s a pretty fast horse. He felt good though, went through the motions,” Bowman said.

Howdeepisyourlove finished sixth this morning in a time of 1m 03.04s on the dirt.