BEAUTY Only revisited past glories at Sha Tin on Sunday, returning to form with a rattling late run to win an action-packed edition of the Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy over a mile.

“He was the horse of old there!” jockey Neil Callan said after his old ally had clocked a swift 22.14s for the final 400 metres.

The winning time was 1m 32.84s, making it the second fastest mile ever run at Sha Tin.

“I’ve always thought this horse was a super star,” trainer Tony Cruz said. “His last run was poor but he’s a fast-ground horse and he needs a fast-run race.”

The seven-year-old surged to a neck win over Western Express, sealing his second Chairman’s Trophy under Callan, two years after the first. The grey Pingwu Spark took third, while Pakistan Star finished a remarkable fourth.

The win was Beauty Only’s first since the 2016 Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Mile.

“Tony said to me that the owners were thinking about retiring him and I said ‘please, don’t,’ because I was sure he could win another top-level one this season, for sure,” Callan said.

The Irishman was Beauty Only’s sole partner through the Holy Roman Emperor gelding’s first season, which brought a famous win in the 2015 Hong Kong Classic Mile.

Callan said. “I knew he still had something in him if the race was run to suit. There aren’t many horses, when they get older, that can still run the last 400 in that time, especially considering the races haven’t been run to suit him; he just doesn’t have that sustained sprint from that far out.”

Beauty Only’s stablemate Time Warp took the field through strong splits. Beauty Only settled toward the tail, shifted wide at the 400m mark and began his surge to the wire.

Cruz is looking forward to the possibility of more big days with Beauty Only: “We keep going! He’s still ready to run,” he said.

None finished faster than the enigmatic Pakistan Star. The blinkered gelding started well enough but as the field passed the 1200m mark, it looked as if Pakistan Star was about to pull himself up as in the Premier Plate.

Moreira rousted Pakistan Star and galvanised the five-year-old to finish just a length and a quarter behind the winner. Pakistan Star must trial satisfactorily over 1600m on the turf track before being allowed to race again.

BEST SPRINTER

Jockey Joao Moreira declared that Beat The Clock was potentially “the best sprinter” in Hong Kong after he scored his first group victory with a strong last-to-first win in the Group 2 Sprint Cup.

The John Size-trained Beat The Clock had runner-up finishes in his last three starts. However, it looked like it might be an uphill task for Beat The Clock when he found himself at the rear of the eight-runner field, six lengths off a sedate pace set by Peniaphobia.

As Mr Stunning strode up to the lead at the 250 metre mark, his stablemate Beat The Clock was unleashing a powerful run out wide.

The two Size runners came away to fight out the finish, with Beat The Clock prevailing by a neck at the wire. His final 400m split of 21.03s was the fastest sectional recorded in any Sha Tin 1200m race in the last decade.