All eyes on Prebble and Profiting Champion
Jockey Brett Prebble and trainer Almond Lee Yee-tat have been two of the star acts of the racing season but will wait until at least race eight at the four-last meeting to combine with a winner as Profiting Champion steps out the horse to beat in the Members Cup (1,000m).
Prebble has ridden for Lee only seven times this term, with his best finish a sixth placing, and his last winner for the trainer was in November 2005, but Profiting Champion looks to have an outstanding chance to break that run of outs.
The three-year-old's owner, Eddie Wong Ming-chak looks to be the important connection, as Prebble will be donning the same black and grey colours he wore when winning the Hong Kong Sprint for the same owner of the world's leading turf sprinter, the David Hall-trained Absolute Champion.
Profiting Champion has shown above average ability in a brief career to date, with just three starts in Australia as a juvenile and a three-start Hong Kong career.
He caught the eye when he rattled home for second to Winning Fellowship up the Sha Tin straight course in April, then had no luck at all behind Always Giggle last time.
Ridden by Eric Saint-Martin on that occasion, Profiting Champion was cut out of a run along the outside rail when trying to slip between the fence and the leader, Plezayre.
Profiting Champion was going strongly at the time - and was certainly going to beat home Plezayre, who ultimately finished second - and he should have been right in that finish.
There is a certain amount of irony to the fact that Prebble's main rival today should be the Hall-trained Silent Dragon, to be ridden by rival Douglas Whyte. Silent Dragon is also lightly raced, though a year older, and had looked to have found his level fairly quickly with no excuse in defeat at his past two runs over this course.
However, Hall gave him a break after his last run in April and Silent Dragon appears to have benefited by it, judging by an excellent trial on June 5. In receipt of eight pounds from the younger horse, he is certainly not to be taken lightly.
The state of the going might be important for the other three-year-old, Winning Fellowship, who didn't appear to produce his true form on soft conditions last time and, in the jockey-go-round, Saint-Martin replaces Prebble.
