The Hong Kong Macau Trophy at Sha Tin today can move to a new standard of quality by confirming the John Size-trained Danacourt as the next big thing on Hong Kong racetracks. But to do it, Danacourt (Douglas Whyte) not only has to come back from the effects of a virus in the same form he was in when it struck, but he has to best an excellent field of local and Macau runners that would be a good test had he never encountered the problem. There are no easy races once horses get to a 109 rating, as Danacourt has done in a short career, so punters should be wary about taking a crazy price about the four-year-old, but there's no doubt that all eyes will be drawn to that line in the form guide in race 205 (November 27, 2005). That was the day that Danacourt wiped the floor with his first Class One field, including Joyful Winner, a subsequent Group One victor who should probably have remained otherwise unbeaten this season but for poor luck in the Chairman's Trophy. There was no hard luck story on November 27 - in Danacourt, Joyful Winner simply met a horse of his own high calibre but with a capacity to take a forward position. When he let loose that day, Joyful Winner sizzled over the final 400m as usual, but with his superior positional speed Danacourt was also doing some sizzling up ahead of him and the gap was unbridgeable. It was absolutely top drawer stuff, as confirmed since by Joyful Winner, but the question today is whether Danacourt is still at that level. When the virus became apparent, Size simply stopped the horse's preparation - and Danacourt has had to begin his season all over again. There was little in his recent barrier trial to say 'back me' but Size has said that Danacourt has come on a lot for that outing. Size errs on the side of caution and punters should assume the best - he wouldn't be taking Danacourt to the races if he didn't think he was ready to perform and it was interesting this week to note that he was happy to accept an invitation to next week's Group One Champions Mile with Danacourt, too. With Warcat and Bobo Win in the race, there should be a true tempo and from gate six, Whyte will have Danacourt camped on the back of the speed ready to show that explosive turn of foot inside the final 300m. If he does not win, the race is wide open. The Tony Cruz-trained Happee Owner (Felix Coetzee) is returning from the top four-year-old races but does have to successfully come back to 1,400m, while stablemate Fokine (Howard Cheng Yue-tin) is another down in grade but with gate 14 to overcome. David Hall has My Choice racing well, and after a second to Good Profit over the course last start, he should not be underestimated. The best of the Macau runners may be Crown's Gift (Benny Woodworth), who has already won two of these races and came back to form last time at his third run from a long time out but lost his second placing when the rider weighed in light.
