The win took Electronic Unicorn's record with freshman trainer John Size to three wins and a second to Eishin Preston in the Hong Kong Mile, and gave Size his first Hong Kong Group One race to add to the four he trained in Australia.

Size expressed fears during the week about the task of keeping his horse in form during the five weeks since peaking in the Hong Kong Mile on December 16, but Electronic Unicorn showed no signs of fatigue as jockey Robbie Fradd pressed the button past the 300 metres.

The gelding produced his nerve-tingling brand of acceleration, went clear and appeared set to score a hollow victory but Red Pepper dug deep. He set out after the red hot favourite, almost surprising Fradd as he took a look back over his shoulder.

'I thought I had them covered, I took a look around and there was your horse coming after me,' Fradd said to Red Pepper's trainer, Brian Kan Ping-chee. 'You've got a good horse there.'

A rueful Kan said that beating Electronic Unicorn at the level weights conditions had been beyond Red Pepper this time but, like Mosse, he sounded a warning. 'That horse was just too strong. If it is a handicap, I beat him for sure, and my horse is not even fit, but today he was too good,' he said.

Size said: 'You couldn't ask him to do more than he did today. We had no special pre-race plan. I always let Robbie decide how to ride him. He had a trouble-free run and when Red Pepper came at him in the last 200m, he was equal to the challenge. When Robbie asked him to go, he went right on with the job.'

The win in the first leg of Hong Kong's Triple Crown series leaves Size with a major headache on where to place the gelding now with no suitable 1,600 metre event in the near future.

The next Triple Crown leg is the Hong Kong Gold Cup over 2,000m on February 14, but Size yesterday refused to commit to a start there, and his other option might be a break before returning for sprint and mile events later in the season, like the Chairman's Trophy and Champions Mile.

'That's something I'm not sure about. Obviously, we have to consider the Hong Kong Gold Cup, but we want to get the decision right, too,' Size said. 'I'll see how he comes through this race. If he pulls up well, I'll talk to the owner about what he wants to do, but we will probably leave any final decision on running in the Gold Cup until as late as possible. We want to do the right thing for the horse and not ask too much of him.'

Fradd said: 'He wasn't really stretched to his top today, there was more there if he needed it. The horse won very well and full credit to John. He has done a great job with the horse to keep him fit and at this level today. Whether he runs in the Gold Cup or not is not my decision. I'm not sure he would be as well suited by 2,000 metres as 1,600, but it isn't up to me.'

Hong Kong Derby aspirant Jeune King Prawn acquitted himself well at his first run against the topliners by finishing third 3.75 lengths away, and jockey Weichong Marwing was suitably impressed with the four-year-old.

'They are the best around at the moment and he was not disgraced by any means,' Marwing said. 'He handled himself well today and will go on from that, too. I still want to see him step up before I'm sure he is a real Derby horse. He handles the mile well and maybe he will run the 2,000 metres in the Derby but you never really know until they have to do it.'

Trainer Ivan Allan said old campaigner Indigenous had raced well although finishing midfield. 'It's too short for him now, but he is on target for the race in Singapore,' he said.