Caspar Fownes rounded out Hong Kong Sprint winner Lucky Nine's preparation for next Sunday's Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) with a imposing 1,200m all-weather track trial win, with stablemate Let Me Handle It motoring home in second.
Since seemingly taking the mantle as the premier sprinter in town with a tough victory on International Day, Lucky Nine has put in underwhelming efforts in the first two legs of the Hong Kong Speed Series.
A flat sixth in the Centenary Sprint Cup (1,000m) was followed by a closing second as even-money favourite in the Chairman's Sprint Prize (1,200m).
Both performances seemed to confirm what many believed - that Lucky Nine is actually a miler with the class to compete in top-level sprints. After all, he won the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile (1,600m) last season and was subsequently placed at Group level over 1,400, 1,600m and 1,800m.
Whatever his best distance, and despite his considerable early-career successes, Lucky Nine's best performances could still be ahead of him.
With Gerald Mosse filling in for the injured Brett Prebble, Lucky Nine appeared for his trial looking well, although the northern hemisphere-bred five-year-old doesn't have the physique to match some of his sprinting rivals.
He travelled strongly three-wide throughout the trial, pulling his way to the front, Mosse asking for some exertion down the stretch.