Prebble lands Challenge thanks to favourable ruling by stipes
Jamie Stier's stewards' panel enjoyed one of their more controversy-free protests at Happy Valley last night to launch Australian jockey Brett Prebble on a treble that scored him the Jockey Challenge as well.

Absolute Champion looks 'spot on' for KrisFlyer assault
Absolute Champion confirmed he was on track for his first overseas assignment in Singapore on May 18 with a comfortable barrier trial victory over 1,000 metres at Sha Tin yesterday morning.

Domination has a downside so QEII Cup result is a blessing in disguise
The fact we have three horses heading to Singapore for their annual showcase meeting a week on Sunday is a powerful reminder of just how far we have come in a short space of time with the international racing agenda.

Challenge bet keeps punters on their toes
The innovation of the Jockey Challenge bet has become an interesting sidebar to the day's racing, even to the jockeys themselves.

Club must be applauded for late jockey change
The Jockey Club's Licensing Committee deserves a pat on the back for its commonsense decision to approve the application for Brent Stanley to come across from Macau to handle Win Practitioner in last Sunday's Queen Mother Memorial Cup.

Eight Belles' trainer leaps to jockey's defence
The trainer of the filly Eight Belles has adamantly defended the way jockey Gabriel Saez handled the Kentucky Derby runner-up who was put down after the race because she had broken both fore ankles.

Fantastic Natagora silences doubters
Natagora, trained in France by Pascal Bary, justified 11-4 favouritism in the One Thousand Guineas at Newmarket.

Whyte racks up magical 1,000th milestone win
Douglas Whyte hit his anticipated 1,000-win milestone at whirlwind pace at Sha Tin yesterday, racking up a superb four-timer and etching his name even deeper into the annals of racing history.

Been there, done that - Lance has last laugh
Paul O'Sullivan conquered the Queen Mother Memorial Cup for a second year with favourite Ever Bright, but had some of the wind taken from his sails minutes later by a text message from his brother in New Zealand.

Size's stable a treasure trove of winners
If there was ever any doubt that this was going to be another John Size season in the trainers' championship, that doubt has well and truly evaporated over the past week as the Australian put his foot to the floor with six wins and his treble yesterday took him to a break of 17 wins over reigning champion Caspar Fownes.

Doleuze double in vain as stewards hit him with HK$80,000 fine
Olivier Doleuze will consider appealing a two meeting suspension and HK$80,000 fine after stewards sustained a careless-riding charge against him in yesterday's feature race, the Queen Mother Memorial Cup.

Even Prebble is taken by surprise as Daneprint scorches to victory
Brett Prebble has begun to link profitably with trainer Dennis Yip Chor-hong on a regular basis this season so his win on Daneprint in the Williams Cup (1,800m) yesterday was no shock to punters, but the jockey himself was pleasantly surprised.

Glittering future lies ahead for Bejeweled
All the attention was on Douglas Whyte racking up his 1,000th Hong Kong winner when the Paul O'Sullivan-trained Bejeweled landed the Li Cup (1,200m) yesterday, but both trainer and jockey agreed that there was a good story still to come with the horse himself.

Big Brown rolls to Derby victory as runner-up filly Belles breaks down
Big Brown pulled away from the field, accelerating with every powerful stride toward the finish line to win the Kentucky Derby.

Warrior can pounce when he next returns to familiar territory
Brilliant Warrior may have lost the plot when surrounded by horses for the first time at Happy Valley last start, but the New Zealand-bred running machine showed he was back on track with an impressive win at Tuesday's barrier trials.

Champion facing crucial test ahead of KrisFlyer Sprint
Basking in the glory of one of his most fulfilling days as a trainer on Thursday, David Hall now turns his attention to Tuesday's barrier trials and a key performance in plans for his top sprinter Absolute Champion.

High fives all around for Hall & Co
It doesn't get any better than Australian David Hall grabbing the spotlight from star sprinter Sacred Kingdom at yesterday's Sha Tin card, as he saddled up perhaps the most perfect day for any trainer in Hong Kong history.

Du Plessis' three-timer a 'real thrill'
Mark du Plessis may have been the only jockey in the world to put his hand up for the "graveyard shift" this season but a sparkling treble yesterday shows the Zimbabwe-born jockey knew what he was doing.

Brave Sanziro joins Champion for Kranji glory
Caspar Fownes gained a new international horse when Sanziro ran home late for third to Sacred Kingdom in the Gome Sprint.

Whyte four short of his 1,000th HK career win
It was a lean day for champion jockey Douglas Whyte and his followers in the Jockey Challenge, with the Durban Demon landing just a single on Silent Dragon as part of David Hall's big haul.

Cruz hails Flying Colours' progress
In the David and Goliath match up of the Lenovo Plate (1,200m) it was popular trainer Derek Cruz who tipped over the "big shots" with his bargain basement griffin Flying Colours.

Charity begins at home so let's up the stakes
The Jockey Club has made all the right moves with its upgrading for the Champions Mile, except for one - it remains a very modest prize in this era of international racing and one that is clearly being ignored by the greater racing world.

Size and Whyte continue to set pace
To some extent it has sneaked up on us, but figures show the Dream Team of John Size and Douglas Whyte (both pictured) is now enjoying the kind of dominance that everyone always expected from them in tandem.

Punters were left in the dark over form of foreign horses
One of the surprises of Sunday's Audemars Piguet QE II meeting was the turnover, with the full meeting handling only a round of drinks more than in 2007.

Bullish Luck waiting in wings for Yasuda Kinen challenge
Trainer Tony Cruz and owner Wong Wing-keung are hoping the Japan Racing Association will extend an invitation to Bullish Luck to compete in the Group One Yasuda Kinen on June 8.

Good, better, best - Ba Ba on the rise
Senior handicapper Nigel Gray believes record-breaking Good Ba Ba must now be the equal of the best milers in the world after performing "to a whole new level" in Sunday's Champions Mile.