Vercingetorix looked full of running when waiting to get a clear run in the straight, but after emerging through a gap he was making no inroads on the front two at the line, suggesting that Delpech was right when saying, “I’m not sure he quite gets the ten furlongs (2 000m) in this class.”

De Kock had reservations about the four-year-old Silvano colt’s stamina capacity a long time ago and cited it as one of the reasons that he pulled him out of the Vodacom Durban July last year, although the fact that he had not pulled up 100% from his Daily News 2000 win was the chief reason.

The same cannot be said about De Kock’s Ashaawes gelding Sanshaawes as he was plugging on well in the straight before being squeezed out and not persevered with. He will be interesting when stepped up in trip.

Designs On Rome, a four-year-old gelding by Holy Roman Emperor, has now won three Gr 1s this year and joined superstars such as Vengeance Of Rain and Ambitious Dragon as horses that have won both the prestigious Gr 1 Hong Kong Derby over 2 000m and the QE II Cup in the same year.

Joao Moreira cleverly drifted outward on last year’s winner Military Attack in the latter stages and this affected Designs On Rome’s momentum, but he picked up again and got up by a neck.

Moreira’s tactical riding had earlier kept the Japanese raider Epiphaneia three wide in the running, which contributed to this horse’s well beaten fourth place finish.

Vercingetorix will get another chance to prove he stays this trip at this level in the Gr 1 S$3 million Singapore Airlines Intenational Cup on May 18 at Kranji. Other South African connected horses to be entered include Sanshaawes, Heavy Metal, Mujaarib, Mushreq and Master Plan. An interesting entry in the S$1 million Gr 1 Krisflyer Sprint over 1200m on the same day is the Pat Shaw-trained Rocket Man, who hasn’t run since easily winning the Gr 1 Lion City Cup over the same course and distance on 29 April 2012 under his regular jockey Felix Coetzee.

Andy Williams, the Durban Bloodstock agent that purchased Rocket Man as a yearling in Australia, divulged that there had been nothing seriously wrong with the eight-year-old gelding by Viscount, but that Shaw had felt that the going at Kranji had been too hard.

He said the ground conditions would be monitored ahead of the Krisflyer before a decision is made to run Rocket Man or not. South African businessman Fred Crabbia owns both Rocket Man and Master Plan and the latter is also now trained by Shaw.

Meanwhile, Variety Club arrived in Hong Kong on Monday morning and will be worked by big race jockey Anton Marcus this week before participating in the Gr 1 HK$ 12 million Champions Mile at Hong Kong on Sunday.

Variety Club will face a top class field in the Champions Mile that includes the globetrotting three-time Gr 1-winning Irish horse Gordon Lord Byron, the Gr 2-winning French horse Mshawish, the Japanese dual Gr 3 winner Meiner Lacrima, as well as local horses like the Gr 1 Hong Mile one-two Glorious Days and Gold-Fun, last year’s Champions Mile winner Dan Excel, and the rising star Able Friend.

Gold-Fun has been priced up as the ante-post 3-1 favourite with Variety Club second on the boards at 7-2.[/expand]