Fairy King Prawn's owner Philip Lau Sak-hong has fine prospects of a double success this afternoon when his Japanese raid is backed up by rising star Jeune King Prawn's bid to land the Sha Tin Futurity Trophy, the feature at Sha Tin.
Like Fairy King Prawn, the Ricky Yiu Poon-fie-trained three-year-old is a well-bred son of Danehill. His only defeat in five starts came last time out when he was clearly a luckless fifth behind Best Light, with John Egan was unable to find a clear passage in the straight.
Jeune King Prawn came back lame after that race, which may also have contributed to his defeat, but Yiu has since nursed him back to peak fitness and the colt has been working in sensational fashion leading up to this event.
He has quite a bit to find on the ratings as he races off a mark of 86, making him the lowest-rated runner with the exception of Triccolo, but clearly has the ability to win this mile contest. But, as far as a betting option is concerned, he would need to be 4-1 or more before being entertained.
The logical favourite is Good Heavens, who has been most impressive on his last two outings when easily accounting for Class One opposition. The David Oughton-trained gelding beat Best Light handsomely enough last time when giving him four pounds, and the pair meet on the same terms today for that 1.25-length margin.
Meridian Star has plenty in his favour and is going to be very hard to beat. He has met Good Heavens on four occasions and has beaten him three times when carrying level weights, as the pair do today. His only defeat by Good Heavens came on his last start when 10-pound apprentice Way Leung was on board, which may have been a significant factor. Shane Dye takes over the reins today, and that should make all the difference.