New Zealand filly Sunline looks set to continue the Kiwis' tremendous association with International week.
The brilliant Cox Plate winner has looked an absolute picture during light work at Sha Tin and could well follow in the footsteps of the likes of Kessem and Romanee Conti, and not forgetting the triumvirate of Grey Invader, Latitude and St James who ran the tierce for the Shakey Isles in the then Invitation Cup exactly 10 years ago.
It was a tierce which paid a mighty $41,040 to a $10 unit while the quinella was a spanking $4,250.70 to the same stake as they came home at 70-1, 40-1 and 3-1 favourite. It was also a result which set the wheel of fortune rolling for some of the town's now top punters.
There won't be anything like those odds available in Sunday's Hong Kong Cup about the prolific Sunline who has looked every bit as magnificent as reports from New Zealand have claimed.
It won't be any cakewalk for her though as the astute Frenchman Francois Doumen can be relied upon to have last season's brilliant Bowl and Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Jim And Tonic primed to run to his best.
His accomplished jockey Gerald Mosse certainly thinks so. Mosse said: 'He wasn't right at all when disappointing at Goodwood in the summer and he didn't act on the track either. It was too up and too down.' Mosse, successful in a number of stints out here and on board for both Jim And Tonic's Hong Kong triumphs last season, then added frankly: 'But he's since gone much better in the Breeders' Cup - the horse ran well but the jockey [Mosse] didn't ride so well.' The German entry, Tiger Hill, could be another serious rival for Sunline. He's a strongly made individual and has looked to have a touch of quality about him during his light exercise since arriving here after a below-par effort in the Japan Cup.