There might not be a horse that deserves to win more than Paul O'Sullivan's Celestial Smile, who has risen to the top of Class Four with a series of near defeats and holds the key to a massive Triple Trio at Sha Tin on Sunday.
A run of upset results has resulted in a jackpot of HK$64 million and an estimated dividend of HK$76 million for a HK$10 ticket awaits a lucky punter who can crack the code, but it will be a tough ask given the TT opens with a Class Five lacking any reliable options.
At least the middle leg contains Celestial Smile (Joao Moreira), dropping back from 1,600 metres to 1,400m, with the addition of blinkers and coming off a three-month break.
According to the Jockey Club website, there were no major setbacks in that time, only some inappetence, so the freshen-up should give the four-year-old an advantage over his rivals - even without a lead-up trial.
Celestial Smile has been beaten a head, a neck, and a head at his last three starts and has found what could be a tired end-of-season Class Four field - an ideal place to break his maiden.
It will be interesting to see what Moreira does from gate nine, as Celestial Smile has been ridden in various ways in all five starts.
There are a couple of leaders and they both warrant inclusion - Sparkling Sword (Douglas Whyte) is next in, and Really The Best (Dicky Lui Cheuk-yin) could come across to sit on his outside from the widest gate, if he has the speed to get there.
Another to consider is Family Interests (Brett Prebble). Given the gelding's lameness issues, trainer Caspar Fownes has done a great job just to get him to the races, let alone win first-up last start.
He won with the sort of authority that indicates another win is in store, if he can stay sound. Hoxo (Karis Teetan) and Perfect Hedge (Hugh Bowman) are options.
The aforementioned first leg is a nightmare, and getting through it alone is worthy of a payout - it could easily provide upsets and result in either another jackpot or a monster dividend.
A banker, but one you wouldn't want to put your life on, is Life Of Beauty (Moreira), who needs everything his way, but will start high in the market.
Include Cool Pal (Bowman), Master Gunner (Derek Leung Ka-chun), Oriental Fantasia (Whyte) and perhaps Infinite Courage (Matthew Chadwick), but the chances don't end there.
The final leg is an 1,800m Class Four, where either topweight Industrialist Way (Tommy Berry) or the improving Terrific Master (Chadwick) look the best bankers, ahead of Ocean Power (Lui), Oxford Charley (Teetan) and Win It (Mark du Plessis).
