Fortunes were totally reversed for Expectations and Noble Crusader at Sha Tin last Saturday with the former coming out an impressive winner after having little luck at his previous outing when finishing third.
At their meeting at Sha Tin on September 29, Noble Crusader took the honours with Expectations being held up for a significant part of the straight before hitting the line powerfully to be beaten less than a length.
This time around, Noble Crusader suffered bad interference at the 700-metre mark, was checked to back in the field and then took time to regain his stride.
He eventually got going over the final stages to finish fourth to Expectations, who settled back in the field, travelled easily to the outside in the home straight and won with something in hand.
Given the dominance of Expectations on this occasion, it is hard to say with any certainty that Noble Crusader would have beaten him without the interference, but he certainly lost no marks with the effort and will make amends soon.
Expectations has come back from the summer break in terrific order and his winning run could well continue in the coming months.