A nondescript and almost sleepy-looking brown gelding stands at the edge of the all-weather track at Sha Tin and slowly turns his head, ears pricked, deliberately pausing in the half-dark, before stepping out on to the moist dirt.
If it wasn't for brand number 399 emblazoned on his red saddle cloth, and if this unusual ritual wasn't a daily occurrence, even the keenest trackwork watcher would have trouble recognising Ambitious Dragon as anything out of the ordinary.
Although unexceptional looking, this animal can do extraordinary things on a racetrack, and today this lazy 'gentle giant' stands on the brink of greatness, with a chance to stride into history as the first Hong Kong Triple Crown winner in nearly 20 years.
A win in the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup, over a lung-burning 2,400 metres - a trip he has never attempted - would also seal a second straight Horse of the Year title, joining modern greats Silent Witness and Fairy King Prawn as two-time winners.
Trainer Tony Millard takes a position in the grandstand, stopwatch in hand, as his wife Beverley, as always in the saddle, niggles at the 'lazy worker' to get going down the back straight. Warming to the task, Ambitious Dragon runs 51.6 seconds for his last 800m, including a near race speed 23.8 for the final 400m. The gallop has gone exactly to plan. 'It's a massive advantage to have Beverley riding for me,' says Millard as he walks back to the trotting ring for a post-workout review.
'It's nice to have someone on that you relate to. She has a great feel and can tell me where he might be feeling a little bit sore. She's ridden the best horses I've trained ... and we can talk about the thousands of horses we've had and she has ridden over the years. She gives me her honest opinion and sometimes it isn't what you would like to hear, but that feedback tells us what we need to do and helps us make those on-the-spot decisions that as trainers define us and can make or break a horse.
'It doesn't help having jockeys getting on and off all the time. Sometimes you feel like they're just trying to tell you something that you want to hear because they're scared you're not going to put them on the horse.'