Whenever trainer Caspar Fownes and jockey Brett Prebble team up, well, one has to take notice.
Plus, after more hard luck in their unhappy hunting grounds on the weekend – Japan – they’d be looking to erase those memories of the door shutting abruptly and rudely on Lucky Nine.
On the special Thursday meeting at Happy Valley, they team up three times – on Peppermint, Many Gains and Green Zone.
As followers of the Fownes stable would know by now, the trainer has turned Many Gains into a real race horse.
Can it keep winning?
We doubt it, but who knows.
Peppermint carries top weight in a tough-looking race, but Fownes would not be legging Prebble aboard it for it to just go around and drop a few pounds.
It’s there to win.
However, the horse which this combination rides in Race 7 – Green Zone – is what made our eyes pop.
The last run of Green Zone last Wednesday was a real black-booker.
From Barrier 10 and over 1000 metes, it zoomed home to come third.
Known as Sparkle in Sydney, it was a regular ride for the now-suspended Tye Angland.
Angland knew and knows this horse inside-out.
Finally drawn a decent barrier for his short career till now in Hong Kong and going over 1200 metres – which it has always needed – one simply cannot leave it out.
With Prebble on board and with many having seen the last run, it might start at shorter odds than it should – but will go close to the money.
However, just for value, we wish Angland was on its back.
He would have made the horse – and the odds – Sparkle just that little bit more.
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