Amber Sky will have yet another new jockey as he attempts to defend his Al Quoz Sprint title at Meydan on Dubai World Cup night, with Ryan Moore now taking the seat.
With regular rider Joao Moreira committed to another Hong Kong runner, Bundle Of Joy, trainer Ricky Yiu Poon-fai had engaged Christophe Soumillon for Amber Sky but was forced to go looking for a jockey again on Sunday.
"Christophe had a ride for me during the Sha Tin meeting and told me his retaining owner had now bought into a filly who was going for the same race, so he would have to ride her," Yiu said.
"I went and saw Ryan Moore and he said he would be happy to ride Amber Sky but he had to check with his agent as he might already have taken a ride. I got a text from Ryan's agent to confirm he'll ride Amber Sky. I had to make some quick moves to get there but I'm very happy to have him on the horse."
Yiu said he gave Amber Sky a good gallop over 1,000m on Monday and couldn't be more pleased with the gelding, who has beaten mid-season health issues.
"He pulled up great from the gallop. His barrier trial a couple of weeks ago couldn't have been better. It seems like he really is back to best again and we know he likes it in Dubai," Yiu said.
"He won't do much work when he gets there but what he does will be in the early morning before it starts to warm up. He'll leave on the 21st, will arrive very fit and then the main thing is to keep him fresh."
In other news for World Cup weekend, Craig Williams has been invited to ride at the March 29 Sha Tin fixture when jockey numbers will be tight after Karis Teetan joined the benched list with a careless riding ban from the Derby.
Moreira, Douglas Whyte and Brett Prebble will fly back overnight from Dubai and Moreira, at least, will be restricted from taking early mounts at Sha Tin, while Zac Purton rides Aerovelocity in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in Japan and will miss the fixture.
Olivier Doleuze is also missing, beginning a suspension after riding Rich Tapestry in the Golden Shaheen.
Meanwhile, trainer Tony Millard is staying open minded about the state of play with Ambitious Dragon, who pulled up with an injury to his right foreleg after a roughhouse Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup on Sunday.
"There is an injury but we are cooling it down, then we'll scan it and see where we're going," said Millard.
