He won the race three times as a jockey and now Douglas Whyte has the Group One QE II Cup (2,000m) firmly in his sights as a trainer with Russian Emperor.

The star five-year-old will tune up for that race in Sunday’s Group Two Chairman’s Trophy (1,600m) at Sha Tin, and Whyte is hoping for a performance similar to the galloper’s third in the Group One Stewards Cup (1,600m) before he went on to win February’s Group One Gold Cup (2,000m).

“It’s the same preparation as the Gold Cup and it served him well last time, so hopefully he can run his race and set himself up nicely,” Whyte said.

Blake Shinn has been aboard for Russian Emperor’s past four starts and is confident his charge can perform at a distance short of his best.

A look back at the last decade of the Sprint Cup and Chairman’s Trophy

“Most of his runs at a mile have been very good. The thing about Russian Emperor is that he’s a horse that keeps on improving,” Shinn said.

“I don’t think Douglas Whyte has got to the absolute bottom of him. The more time he spends in Hong Kong, he keeps adjusting to the ground and he’s getting tougher mentally and physically.”

Russian Emperor again locks horns with Golden Sixty after getting the superstar miler’s measure in the Gold Cup, while the likes of Waikuku, More Than This and Ka Ying Star also line up in the Chairman’s Trophy.

Whyte also saddles up Savvy Nine in the contest, while he is represented by Stronger in the day’s other Group Two feature – the Sprint Cup (1,200m).

Stronger was a narrow second in this race last year and reigned supreme in January’s Centenary Sprint Cup, which was his most recent start.

“He’s been unlucky in some of his races and it was a deserved victory. As I’ve said before, if some of the other horses are slightly off their game, he’ll be there to lap it up,” Whyte said.

“He’s held his form, his trial the other day was very good. I was satisfied with it and he’s pulled up well post-trial, so I would have to say he’s in very similar form to when he won.

“He’s had a freshen-up at Conghua and he’s had two trials since and I was on him on Monday morning for his final gallop and he felt terrific.

“If he was a hand higher, he’d be a contender in all the Group One races but he’s always going to fall short from that perspective, but he goes there and tries his best every day – when there’s a reason for the others to fail, he’ll be there to pick it up like he did last start.

“He’s switching off better and he’s attacking the line. He used to previously kind of jump and lead and only have a short dash. Now, being a bit more conservative, he’s hitting the line better.”

Stronger takes on fellow Group One winners Wellington and Hot King Prawn, as well as the likes of Super Wealthy and Master Eight.