Gary Crispe flew to England to watch Miss Andretti win at Royal Ascot in June and wouldn't dream of being anywhere else in the world on Sunday than at Sha Tin, to watch the Australian wonder filly competing against Hong Kong's best.
Crispe is the Australasian representative of the England-based Timeform organisation, and following Miss Andretti has become something of an affair of the heart.
'I told [trainer] Lee Freedman at Royal Ascot that if she was well in herself, she would be too good for them in the King's Stand Stakes and that's how it proved,' Crispe said yesterday after watching Miss Andretti, ridden by Scott Magee, doing some light work on the all-weather track.
'Our English analysts credited her with doing a 127 rating in the King's Stand, and that's exactly the same figure that I had her going at Flemington last start, when she defeated Gold Edition.
'I've watched that race many times and I believe there is a little bit more there, because Craig Newitt didn't push her right out. So if that's right, and she can do 128 on Sunday, she'll be too good for them again with the mares' four-pound allowance at weight-for-age.'
Crispe said that Sunday's fields would be a passionate racing man's dream meeting.
