Last season's champion griffin Good Ba Ba left no doubts at Sha Tin yesterday that he has the ability to take the step from top class 'baby' to fully-fledged Derby contender after he spreadeagled a classy field in the Kam Tin Handicap over 1,600 metres.
When Good Ba Ba was running 69 seconds for 1,200m last term, jockey Douglas Whyte said the International Sale graduate was doing it on class alone and that a mile would be his minimum requirement with more maturity.
The son of Lear Fan could not have been more emphatic making the point himself yesterday as he stepped to 1,600m for the first time, sat off the course to the home turn then peeled off for the man of the hour, Christophe Soumillon, and simply toyed with his rivals.
With trainer Alex Wong Yu-on having earmarked yesterday's strong Class Three as a guide to whether Good Ba Ba should head towards the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby over 2,000m on March 26, the result was unambiguous.
'He will be entered for the Derby tomorrow. Today was his testing ground, going up to the mile,' said an excited Wong, who notched up a double after scoring earlier in the day with Real Surprise (Soumillon).
'He hadn't been beyond 1,400m but I thought he would handle 1,600m. I felt if he came here today and handled the 1,600m well - and he really did - then I expect he can certainly run a strong 1,800m.