"Not surprised by the win because Dennis has had him going really well for a while, but I was nicely surprised by how he feels under you," said Prebble, who sealed a double in winning the feature Queen Mother Memorial Cup later in the afternoon.

"It was the first time I've ever been on Daneprint and he is quite a nice-actioned horse, which frankly you don't always find down on the 25 rating horses in Class Five. His margin was probably a bit flattered because I got going a bit earlier on him and then got a break on the field but he does feel like he would be up to Class Four."

Daneprint's form since a mid-season freshen up has been outstanding, with yesterday's victory his second in four starts, and the seven-year-old gelding will have lifted himself well out of the "relegation" zone of compulsory retirement once the handicapper is done with him this morning.

How did the Australian poet, Banjo Paterson, put it? You ride a slashing race, and lose, by one and all you're banned! Ride like a bag of flour, and win, they'll cheer you in the stand.

Trainer Me Tsui Yu-sak said Thunder Dancing had just been looking for a change of luck all season after the five-year-old finally broke through for a win yesterday but it was truly a case of the result erasing the facts.

From an outside gate, Thunder Dancing's luck continued to desert him, with jockey Howard Cheng Yue-tin forced to sit wide and give the gelding yet another tough trip in running, but the difference yesterday was that he kept going to win.

Full marks to Tsui, though, not only for Thunder Dancing but the job he has done this term - the victory took him to 38 wins and a clear fourth placing on the trainers' table.

With top rider Felix Coetzee sitting home trying to throw off the effects of a respiratory bug, his television set might have been in some peril after the Sandberg Gold Cup (1,800m) when one of his scheduled mounts, Happy All Around, scored a narrow win. Coetzee had reluctantly stood down from his four mounts for the day on orders from his doctor who suggested the South African allow the medications prescribed to do their job and it was an opportunity that in-form apprentice Thomas Yeung Kai-tong did not pass up.

Trainer Tony Cruz has won many races this season with his own apprentice, Marco Chui Kwan-lai, but had to be impressed as Yeung gave a polished display on Happy All Around to box-seat to the home turn then looked good riding the gelding out to nose out Douglas Whyte.