A REMINDER that the flat season “proper” is just around the corner came early on Sunday morning, when Ryan Moore won the Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin on Ping Hai Star, coming from last to first with some swift closing sectionals. I make the timefigure a very decent 115, with third-placed Exultant (known as Irishcorrespondent when trained by Mick Halford in Ireland) on 110.

Those figures have not just been plucked from thin air, as the Hong Kong Jockey Club assist with the understanding of the sport in their jurisdiction by publishing credible standard times and sectional pars by race-grade, from which workable time analysis can be arrived at.