Owner Johnson Chen has unexpectedly pulled the plug on a trip to Dubai for the NZ bred and reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Werther.

Emotions were raw at Sha Tin on Sunday after Helene Paragon battled past stablemate and crowd favourite Able Friend to win the Group 1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m).

New Zealand bred and Hong Kong’s reigning Horse of the Year Werther maintained his perfect record over the Sha Tin 2000m with a gutsy win in Sunday’s Gr.1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup,

Michael Freedman was at Sha Tin racecourse on Friday to meet local media, one week on from last Friday’s announcement that the Sydney-based trainer will join the Hong Kong ranks in July, working out of the Olympic Stables complex.

Hong Kong duo Dundonnell and Fabulous One may have headed for Dubai with the same goals, but their paths diverge at Meydan on Saturday night (4 March) at the annual Super Saturday meeting as both chase berths in lucrative races on Dubai World Cup night.

Stretching to 1,200m at Sha Tin brought D B Pin unstuck last start but John Size's explosive sprinter should again reign supreme with a switch back to Happy Valley and 1,000m on Wednesday night.

Jumping on a business class flight to some exotic, far-flung location, being chauffeur driven to a race track and then duly riding a Group One winner is about as glamorous as it gets for a jockey, but what about when things don't quite work out that way?

Nothing was as it should have been in the Classic Cup except the scoreboard at the finish as Rapper Dragon defied some historical disadvantages and took the second step to becoming the first horse to claim the four-year-old triple crown.

The last favourite to win the Classic Cup (1,800m) was Floral Pegasus 10 years ago and a very similar type of horse in the John Moore-trained Rapper Dragon looks the one to beat in the second four-year-old major on Sunday at Sha Tin.

Former top Singapore handler Michael Freedman will be the new expatriate trainer to join the Hong Kong roster at Sha Tin from the start of the 2017/18 season.

He was standing right here three years ago but John Moore's view of the Classic Cup on Sunday is probably best described as similar but different as his star four-year-olds gather again to sort out 2017 Hong Kong Derby favouritism.

A sickening bias at Happy Valley on Wednesday night made black bookers difficult to find and the form will mostly be unreliable but one or two performed with credit against the disadvantage and punters could get a very quick return from one of them on Sunday.

John Moore-trained Able Friend, Werther, Helene Paragon and Designs On Rome closed off in a bunch in Tuesdays barrier trial at Sha Tin

Hong Kong's representation at the rich Dubai carnival was reduced by two after Caspar Fownes retired dirt star Gun Pit and John Moore revealed a change of plans for last start Group One winner Helene Paragon.

Now that the relatively uneventful first half of the season is behind us, maybe it's time to look ahead at the second half and even wheel out something of a wish list.

By his own unique measuring stick, John Size is enjoying a vintage season but the champion trainer played it down as "just normal" after a winning treble at Sha Tin on Saturday.

It wasn't so much that Magic Legend was able to win first-up that impressed Douglas Whyte but more the fact the still-untapped talent was even able to prevail despite doing so much wrong.

The biggest question mark for Hong Kong-trained sprinters Fabulous One and Dundonnell isn't about class but whether or not they handle the tricky sand surface at Meydan as they kick-off campaigns on Saturday in Dubai.

Trainer Tony Cruz can't win. At the start of this season critics said the problem with Pakistan Star was that he was too slow at the start and now he is answering questions about whether his horse will over-race or not.

One of the things about champions is that they never seem to stop looking for ways to improve themselves.

Champion sprinter Aerovelocity won't race again for at least three months and trainer Paul O'Sullivan says he will have no hesitation retiring the eight-year-old if he fails to show his usual spark next preparation.

The licensing committee meeting at the end of next week looks a key assembly in a couple of important areas for the Hong Kong racing scene over several seasons to come.

With the David Hall yard back up and running again after a quiet December-January, Penang Hall looks another coming winner for the trainer if he can get the benefits of a better draw.

A contender for ride of the season by Chad Schofield stole the Centenary Vase and capped Supreme Profit's career resurrection from a colic surgery survivor languishing in Class Five to Group Three victor.

Talk turned to the touchy subject of testicle removal at Sha Tin on Sunday, regarding horses of course, and in particular the complications that come with training colts in Hong Kong.

The John Size-trained Western Express added one more piece to the Hong Kong Derby puzzle as he redeemed himself with a very convincing Class Two victory and racked up win number 500 for Joao Moreira since he arrived in Hong Kong.

Thursday at Happy Valley was a moderate card with really nothing on the programme going anywhere special but there were a couple to follow in the nearer term for a win.

Reigning champion trainer John Size again edged further ahead of his rivals in the chase for back-to-back titles courtesy of what is shaping as his best-ever Happy Valley season.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has no intention of following other jurisdictions into the major sweepstake race business despite the announcement of a new, potentially A$10 million (HK$58.7 million) sprint raceat Sydney's Royal Randwick racecourse in mid October.

Twelve times A$600,000 does not add up to A$10 million, but bad maths and a naff name aren't the only issues with Australia's whiz-bang new "richest race", The Everest.

The team for the Dubai World Cup meeting is assembling and it shows how far Hong Kong racing has come in the last decade or more that it could be a big representation even at a time when we have no standout horse.