Apache Cat finishes third

Inspiration caused a shock in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint beating Green Birdie and Australia's hope Apache Cat in a tight finish.

Australian raider Apache Cat was a warm favourite to add to his Group One tally but even though he was drawn on the rail Corey Brown could never get to the front and in the end did well to finish third.

Brown was slightly disappointed with the performance of the favourite and said: "He hit a flat spot 300 (metres) out but he always does."

"At that point the winner had gone past me and cut across me and I had to change course but he gathered momentum pretty quickly after that and got to within half a length of the winner but he couldn't pull any more out and the winner was too good on the day."

"He had the perfect run, it was a little disappointing, he had to change course about 250-300 out but I really didn't think it cost him anything. I just had to flick over the winners heels but he still had another go but he had no more petrol to give."

Darren Beadman was on board the winner who showed a sharp turn of foot and plenty of guts to hold off Green Birdie.

Europe's champion sprinter Marchand D'Or met some slight traffic problems but never quite looked like getting on terms and filled sixth postion for the second consecutive year.