Dye looks set to provide Joyful end in triple trio
Jockey Shane Dye appears to have the key to promising Joyful Winner and the pair look set to maintain their unbeaten partnership in the final leg of Sunday's triple trio at Sha Tin.
Dye's association with him happened totally by chance after Anthony Delpech fell ill at Sha Tin on June 12 and Dye was announced as the replacement on the El Moxie gelding, taking full advantage of the opportunity to score a fast-finishing win at his second start.
Douglas Whyte took over two weeks later but the John Moore-trained Joyful Winner struggled to reproduce his previous effort when stepping to 1,600 metres.
Dye returned to the saddle for the gelding's seasonal return on October 22 and, after a slow beginning, he settled back in the field but the jockey's decision to save ground around the home turn proved a winning one, with Joyful Winner eventually getting to the outside and powering home for a solid win.
Joyful Winner steps to 1,400m on Sunday but everything points to the five-year-old relishing the distance rise.
He raced eight times in New Zealand before being imported, winning over 1,200 and 1,300m, but one of his best performances was at 2,100m when finishing a close fifth to Russian Pearl, one of the Derby lead-ups, the Bonecrusher Stakes (Listed Race) at Ellerslie.
Other worthy inclusions are the promising Regency Horse, Solar, Rum Shot and Royal Decree. The all-powerful Whyte-John Size combination get together again with first-starter Liberal's Knight and, after coming up with barrier one, not too many risks can be taken with the three-year-old.
The opening leg looks tough but the improving One Shot appears to have plenty in his favour and looks banker material.
The Paul O'Sullivan-trained gelding ran well first-up this term behind Champ Dragon and was then swamped late in his last start behind Easy Game.
With the blinkers added and the likelihood of getting the run of the race, One Shot should go very close to breaking his maiden status.
Dangers will come from Fortune Warrior, who needs luck from the gate, Lucky Money, Join Victory and Soldier On.
The in-form Million Success backs up from his tough win over Vitality Champ in the middle leg and it looks as though he is going to get all the favours again after drawing gate one.
He meets several rivals worse at the weights but Brett Prebble should be able to settle the David Hall-trained gelding on the back of the leaders, which makes him the horse to beat again.
The tough ones to hold out will be Travel Leader, Posa, Sea Treasure and Members Glory, with Fortune Gold being an interesting runner, backing up from a dour effort at Sha Tin on Wednesday night.
