If Australian star Apache Cat breaks the local grip on the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint on Sunday, it will continue a happy accident for trainer Greg Eurell and the owners who should have been waving the horse goodbye several years ago.
Eurell, a former Olympic equestrian rider, has an unknown Hong Kong owner to thank for letting him keep a horse which has taken him on the greatest of rides.
'When he was a two-year-old, he won a black-type race, the Gibson-Carmichael Stakes in Melbourne over a mile, and David Hall was interested in buying him for a Hong Kong client,' Eurell recalled. 'We went through all the routine procedures, the vets, the negotiations and that all went smoothly. All that was left to do was for David to show the video of the horse to his client here and when he did that the owner saw all the white on the horse and didn't want him. And I can't thank him enough.'
All that white and a big, bald face and Apache Cat's quality and versatility have made him a huge crowd favourite back in Australia in five seasons of racing, during which the gelding has collected six Group Ones from 1,000m to 1,600m in all types of going and in both directions.
The past year has been his career high point, winning five Group One races in succession between February and May, right in line with Eurell's view of Apache Cat.
'I honestly believe each season he has got a little better,' he said. 'He's a quality horse and he doesn't knock himself around. Because he doesn't use himself, that's given us this longevity with him and it has been fantastic for me as a trainer.