A lot has changed since Mark Du Plessis last rode at Sha Tin nearly two years ago.
For a start, the popular Zimbabwean-born, New Zealand-based hoop is now a Kiwi, officially becoming a citizen of his adopted country.
But after steering home the second leg of a Ricky Yiu Poon-fai double on Fantastico, Du Plessis said the biggest change he noticed upon returning to the Hong Kong riding ranks was the quality of riders in the Sha Tin jockeys' room.
The new level of competition was why there was an added fist-pump when Du Plessis crossed the line on the first day of what he hopes will be a fruitful late-season stint that leads to more short-term stays in the future.
"There are so many good jockeys here, so to get on a chance like that on day one and get the job done was a buzz - I loved it," Du Plessis said.
"You just look around here now and you've got Zac Purton riding amazingly well and just hitting his straps and obviously Douglas (Whyte) is a legend - it was strong when I was here before - but with Joao Moreira, Hugh Bowman, Christian Reith, and even Karis Teetan, it's gone to another level."
Du Plessis left Hong Kong for New Zealand after riding 29 winners in the 2011-12 season, and since then the lightweight has had a string of big race successes in his new base.
After finishing fourth in last season's New Zealand jockeys' premiership, Du Plessis is third this season and has ridden five Group One winners. The 38-year-old has set a goal of five winners in the final six meetings, a target sure to be helped along by the early success.
Fantastico was a ride that fell to Du Plessis rather fortuitously, after being originally being knocked back by Tommy Berry.
Du Plessis was able to jog Fantastico this week and he said the workout filled him with confidence, even if it was only a light canter.
"He just felt so good, so I thought he would run well," he said.
Fantastico has raced consistently at both tracks this season, but the four-year-old has not been able to get 1,200m as yet, something that Yiu hopes to change next term after the straight track win.
"If he can get that bit further it will open things up for us with him," he said. "Because he can only really race over 1,000m, we have been limited with what we can do with him."
Fresh And Fresh was able to lead all the way for Andreas Suborics in the opening event of the day, causing a minor upset as long odds-on favourite Great Storm ran into all sorts trouble back in the field.
"We've been waiting for 1,400m for him," Yiu said. "He will get further next season too."
