The winning form of Happy Contender and to a much greater extent Sweet Sanette is going some way to debunking the popular view that females don't do well in Hong Kong racing. While they have long held their own in international events as highly rated visitors, the girls have been an infrequent part of racing on a full-time basis and even less frequently successful.
The 1976 Derby winner, Corvette, the 2003 Derby winner, Elegant Fashion, and the 1999 Hong Kong Sprint runner-up, Crystal Charm, have been pretty much the only place to turn for confirmation that females can perform here.
Even then, Crystal Charm only won two races in total and Elegant Fashion won twice in 2002-03 and twice again the following season.
There may have been others, but we can only recall Regal Thrills (2006-07) and Fortune Princess (2005-06) as other female winners.
With three wins for the season, Sweet Sanette is already the best-achieved female here we know of, at least in those terms. Everything she has done so far suggests she will be competitive when thrown in with the big names, but don't expect the successes of Sweet Sanette and Happy Contender - a remarkable five wins for the term - to bring an influx of fillies.
There is still more to be gained for them in other jurisdictions, where age and gender-restricted races give them a softer chance to earn black type and enhance their value.
Jockey Greg Cheyne pointed out that Sweet Sanette has relatives in the upcoming National Sale in South Africa, but the reality is that her wins here in non-Group races will do little for their value.