Ever-reliable Green Treasure, along with his in-form partner Olivier Doleuze, is set to return to his brilliant best when he takes his place in the second leg of the triple trio at Sha Tin on Sunday. The TT jackpot is estimated to grow to $8 million and if history is any guide, Green Treasure shapes as ideal banker material. The Derek Cruz-trained gelding rarely disappoints and made a rapid rise through his classes last season, going from Class Three to running fifth in the Hong Kong Derby. In all, he won five races for the season and placed on another four occasions from 12 outings. He has had two runs this season and showed with his last-start fourth to Best Gift in the Group Three Sha Tin Trophy over 1,600 metres that his winning turn was near. Doleuze, who returned from suspension with a brilliant double at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, has ridden Green Treasure nine times for four wins, with his latest coming under an identical weight of 131 pounds on May 29. Green Treasure's likely challengers are the in-form Fokine, for Tony Cruz and Felix Coetzee, and the Caspar Fownes-trained Saturn, who was desperately unlucky behind Best Gift. The lightly weighted Five Grains was also out of luck when resuming and commands respect, while Classic Master, who nearly caused a boilover in this event last year, will give a good sight up on the speed. The Duke is a high-class gelding on his day and it would be unwise to dismiss him despite two lacklustre recent performances. The opening leg looks likely to be fought out by two promising youngsters in Treasure Colt and Floral Pegasus. Treasure Colt, to be ridden by Douglas Whyte, created a huge impression when winning his debut on October 2, returning the blistering time of 56.3 seconds for the 1,000m course. He will be better suited by the rise to 1,200m and looks set to get a perfect run right on the speed, likely to be set by the Coetzee-ridden Floral Pegasus. The Cruz-trained Floral Pegasus was a warm favourite at his debut and after making the speed stayed on strongly to finish second to the promising Thistle King. With the benefit of that outing, along with the fact he'll be dictating the tempo of the event, he'll be the one to run down. The pair look an ideal double banker combination. In the final event, Lucky Stravinsky and Adaikali, who fought out the finish of a similar race on October 2, again look very well placed. Lucky Stravinsky took the honours on that occasion but Adaikali, an impressive first-up winner, did burn up plenty of petrol early in the race. Other worthy inclusions are Harmony, Careless Whisper, with the blinkers added, and Ocean Tranquil, who will sport a visor for the first time.
