I CANNOT profess to be an expert on timing matters in Hong Kong but the same general principles of the effect of inefficiency on overall times apply there as anywhere else.

As such, it is possible to infer that the four big turf races at the recent Hong Kong International meeting were well run, as they all resulted in race finishing speeds (last 400m speed for leaders compared to overall race speed) of between 99.8% and 101.0%, when slightly higher might be expected given race distances and track configuration.

Highland Reel must have been close to his very best 126 timefigure in going down by just half a length to the Japanese colt Satono Crown, the pair clear. The wonders of a well-funded data-savvy racing jurisdiction additionally mean we know that Highland Reel weighed in at 1069kg, whereas he was 1036kg in the race as a three-year-old.

A Shin Hikari probably overdid things in a clear lead in the Hong Kong Cup but not to such a degree that excuses his collapsing into 10th by the line. Timeform has now attached a $ (denoting unreliability) to his 129 rating. Fellow Japanese horse Maurice was brilliant in winning the race by three lengths from Secret Weapon under a cool and calculating Ryan Moore. It is not clear what Maurice’s time is precisely worth but he deserves to be on the heels of Arrogate and California Chrome in the end of season rankings.