Silent Witness still perfect

Silent Witness sped to a Hong Kong-record 14th consecutive victory without a loss at Sha Tin on Sunday with a handy score in the $576,900 Bahunia Sprint Trophy.

In defeating his Tony Cruz-trained stablemate Country Music by 1 3/4 lengths, Silent Witness tracked the pace of eventual last-place finisher Able Prince, who crossed sharply in front of the winner halfway through the straight five furlongs, actually causing Silent Witness to clip heels. Undeterred, Silent Witness, a 5-year-old Australian-bred gelding, swept to the lead under Feliz Coetzee at the quarter pole and went on to record a winning time of 55.30 seconds on good ground. His backers had to satisfy themselves with a winning price of just 1-20.