Marcus had scored earlier in the day on David Hayes-trained Po On Win, and was in raptures with Lifeline Express.

'I'm sure he is going to be better when he is chasing the speed instead of making it but from the wide draw today we didn't have any options but to go forward,' Marcus said. Lifeline Express was beaten at his seasonal debut over 1,200 metres when he was always off the bit then struck trouble at a vital stage in the straight, but yesterday he found the extra 200 metres more acceptable if not the wide gate.

'I was very worried indeed about the 12 barrier today,' said Millard. 'I said to Basil, 'look jump him out and then see what you can do.' I didn't send him out with a plan to lead and you can see him on the replay looking to his inside to come across and slot in. But there was nowhere to go and he had to make the decision to press forward.'

The effort took on extra merit for a Class Two winner, as Lifeline Express worked across hard, going forward outside of Exultation through a section from the 1,200m to the 800m when the pair went faster than the leaders in the Premier Class National Day Cup.

When Marcus set sail down the Sha Tin straight, Lifeline Express was there to be beaten but fought off his challengers as they appeared. 'He is still immature and a bit lazy,' Marcus said. 'When he found the front he wasn't putting his strongest effort in until the other horse would come up and then he would pick up again.

'He won by a neck and I think if something had challenged him more closely again, he would have still picked up and won by a neck. He's still learning but that was a good win after doing the work.' It was a horse of a different status but a similar story for three-year-old Po On Win after Marcus had worked him across from 13 to find the lead in the Fuzhou Handicap, 1,400m.

'He did a good job, he's still only a young horse and green but had to work over and kept on going,' Marcus said.

Hayes trained Po On Win's sire, Fraar, to win at the top level over 2,400m in Australia and he expects Po On Win will one day be looking for ground.

'Fraar was a slow maturer who eventually won a Caulfield Cup and finished second to Romanee Conti here in the Hong Kong Cup,' Hayes said. 'This is going to be a horse who will get better with age and I'm sure he is going to need a bit of ground.'

Hayes said the only other Fraar to have run in Hong Kong was Inca Rose, with which he won four races last season.

Perhaps it could be Tony Cruz's motto. 'Everything you do in life, you've got to have a plan,' said the former champion after St Alann's victory in the fourth race had completed a quick-fire double for the red-hot trainer.

Astute form students may have latched on to St Alann, whose 1,400-metre success marked the third consecutive season in which the son of Alannon has won over course and distance on his second start.

After a first-time-out third three weeks ago, St Alann duly stepped up again to burst past short-priced favourite King Confident and score by a neck under a powerful ride from Felix Coetzee. Cruz confirmed afterwards that St Alann's remarkable record was no coincidence, though this time there was possibly even more merit in the success as it was St Alann's first win since a bleeding attack on International Day last year.

The Cruz-Coetzee machine earlier accounted for the third race with Explosive Power, who cut down Zinedine to score by a short-head on his first start over the Sha Tin mile. The double left Coetzee level pegging with Douglas Whyte on 11 winners at the top of the jockeys' championship, while Cruz is in a three-way tie for the lead in the trainers standings on nine winners along with David Hayes and Ivan Allan.

New Planet's start may have proved crucial at the finish of the sixth race as the habitual slow-breaker recorded a second successive win under Simon Yim. New Planet had started slowly on his seasonal reappearance before scoring by 1.75 lengths, but a similar break may have killed his chances this time as he had only a head and the same to spare over Aspiration and Victory Drum at the end of the 1,800-metre contest.

'He started much better this time, he was all right,' said Yim, who was able to find and hold a handy position from barrier five.

New Planet took the step up from 1,400 metres in his stride, which was no surprise as he is from the family of leading Australian racehorse and sire Grosvenor and by Chief's Crown, whose stallion record includes English Derby winner Erhaab and Azzaam, who landed the Sydney Cup. The four-year-old completed a double for Francis Lui Kin-wai following Admiral's success in the preceding race, putting the trainer on eight winners to keep him hard on the heels of the leading trio in the title race.