Winner's next race is the Kranji Sprint

Trainer Cliff Brown said he was very proud of his Three Rings Trophy winner ZAC SPIRIT, but he also paid tribute to the gutsy runner-up, Holy Empire.

"Yeah, I am very proud of him," said Brown.

"You know, the second horse is very good. They have always been nice horses and he was very gallant, both of them were.

"Yeah, he's very good but I think it was partly my fault. I still got him a little bit underdone, because we still got a long way to go."

Although Brown felt that Zac Spirit would now appreciate some ground, his six-time winner (from 10 starts) will stick to running in the Group 3 $200,00 Kranji Sprint over 1,200m on April 4.

But how about the $1 million International Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint over 1,200m in May?

"Oh, it could be," he said.

"It just depends. You know, today, he probably shaped like he wants a bit further, so we'll just have to see."