Gary Vile had other plans for Hard Merchandize last Wednesday, but that all suddenly changed with an irresistible offer from Hong Kong interests.

“I was planning to take him to the Foxton trials for a run to set him up for a first-up tilt at the Foxbridge Plate,” the Awapuni trainer said. 

“But then I got contacted about selling him and the deal was done. Instead of going to the trials on Wednesday he left here to go into quarantine.”

Hard Merchandize won four of his 12 starts for Vile. His major win came in the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) last spring and he also won the Listed Castletown Stakes (1200m) as a two-year-old.

His three placings included a third in the Gr.2 James & Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes (1400m) at Te Rapa.

“If he went well in the Foxbridge Plate he was to go on for the Tarzino Trophy,” Vile said. “He was coming up really well.”