Cityscape failed to fire as he finished well out of the frame in the BMW Champions Mile at Sha Tin.
Roger Charlton's charge was well fancied for the Group One event after his comfortable victory in the Dubai Duty Free at Meydan last time.
However, he was slowly away under James Doyle and after working his way back into contention, the six-year-old did not find much room in the straight and just did not pick up.
He eventually passed the post in 10th place, with Godolphin's African Story faring slightly better in sixth after racing fairly prominently under Silvestre de Sousa.
The prize went to ex-British runner Xtension, who was repeating his victory of last year for trainer John Moore.
Charlton felt Cityscape's slow start counted against him as well as the early pace and the track conditions.
He tweeted: "Cityscape missed the break and no pace so was always struggling and he didn't seem that happy on the ground."
