The mystery of Archipenko's below-par run in the Dubai Duty Free may be destined to remain unexplained, but jockey Kevin Shea doesn't see it as anything other than a one-off disappointment.
Shea, who celebrated his 46th birthday last Thursday, was at Sha Tin yesterday to handle Archipenko in slow work on the all-weather track and was unable to fault the athletic bay.
Archipenko, the defending champion in Sunday's HK$14 million Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2,000m), looked bright and a bundle of energy in the strong canter and was keen to go faster leaving Shea in a confident frame of mind.
'He certainly felt good this morning, and I think we can expect something good on Sunday,' the South African jockey said.
After winning last year's QE II from Balius and Viva Pataca, Archipenko won a Group Two at Ascot at his next start, before shipping to America for a fighting second in the Arlington Million in Chicago.
He then had a winter break, before resuming with a Group Three win in Dubai and, then that ordinary sixth behind Gladiatorus in the US$5 million Dubai Duty Free (March 28) - his only bad run since being bought by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa from the Aidan O'Brien yard and given to Mike de Kock to campaign.
