VETERAN Blazing Speed regained his Champions & Chater Cup title under Neil Callan for trainer Tony Cruz. In a terrific finish with less than two lengths covering the first five home, the seven-year-old sprung something of a surprise as he narrowly edged out Victory Magic and the hot favourite Werther by two short-heads in the mile and a half contest.

Werther was sent off as the odds-on favourite after victories in the Hong Kong Derby and QEII Cup and held every chance as he moved into a share of the lead a furlong out.

However, unlike in the QEII Cup, Werther was unable to establish a decisive advantage and could not fend off the persistent challenge of Blazing Speed, while Victory Magic surged home to grab second on the line.

The winning trainer paid tribute to his winner: “He’s easy to train, he has a fantastic character. He’s seven years old but as long as he keeps going we’ll keep going with him.”

Blazing Speed, who had finished nearly six lengths behind Werther in the QEII Cup at Sha Tin last month, was sent off as the third favourite.

Blazing Speed’s victory made it four straight wins in the race for Tony Cruz, who enjoyed a fine day, winning five races.

Another of his winners came in the Sha Tin Vase, a local Group 3 over six furlongs saw Peniaphobia bounce back from a poor effort in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize.

The high-class sprinter, who won last year’s Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint, disappointed last time but put that run behind him with an authoritative victory under jockey Matthew Chadwick.

The trainer said: “I told everyone we’d see a different horse this time. He had a bit of mucus after the last race but this time he was a much fitter horse.” Peniaphobia - who was trained by Richard Fahey in his younger days - is an Irish-bred son of Dandy Man.