Mount Athos may not have won a race at the highest level, but that's all set to change in an even Vase.
The Melbourne Cup has emerged as a key form race for the HK$15 million race, and of the four horses with Flemington form in their profile this year - including the last two Vase winners Red Cadeaux and Dunaden - Mount Athos (Craig Williams) is the best-placed to continue that trend.
Luca Cumani's charge has drawn ideally in five - not that good draws are overly important for the 2,400m start at the top of the straight - but his gate allows him to use his best asset, his tactical versatility.
What will be crucial to the chances of a number of runners is the amount of speed in the race.
The David Ferraris-trained Liberator (Brett Prebble), one of only two Hong Kong representatives, shapes as the likely leader from gate seven, although the early decisions of Andrasch Starke aboard German mare Nymphea could be critical to the final outcome.
In July, Nymphea opened a 15-length lead on her rivals during the middle stages of the Grosser Preis Von Berlin, breaking the hearts of her rivals to record her first Group One success, and a repeat of those tactics today could potentially set up a speed battle as they pass the post for the first time.
Whatever happens in front, Mount Athos should slot into a beautiful position, whether it be in the box-seat in a slowly run race or further back on the rails in a speedy affair, and he'll have every opportunity to prove he is a world-class stayer.
Behind Mount Athos, the picture looks murky with little separating many of these runners.
Red Cadeaux (Gerald Mosse), who was second in the Melbourne Cup in 2011 and 2013, and Dunaden (Jamie Spencer), fifth in this year's Japan Cup, both ran terrific races last start and have caught the eye at trackwork this week, but both are coming into the race off arduous campaigns.
The Fugue (William Buick) will start favourite and is clearly the class horse of the race, but all reports suggest she didn't travel too well and she's had a very light week on the track in preparation.
Japanese stayers have taken the world by storm in recent years, and while Asuka Kurichan (Yasunari Iwata) has been a second-tier performer in Japan for a number of years, he is a hardy galloper who should be well-suited to Sha Tin and he has looked fantastic at trackwork during the week.
