Windicator Star came with a good reputation from Australia last season and he looks ready to take his first step towards backing it up in the Chinese General Chamber Of Commerce Cup (1,000m) today at Sha Tin.Unbeaten in two starts in Melbourne, the Caspar Fownes-trained four-year-old simply didn't look to be ready in his first Happy Valley start in March, then a left foreleg problem in April saw him disappear from racing until July.Although the form guide says Windicator Star (Brett Prebble) fin

Windicator Star came with a good reputation from Australia last season and he looks ready to take his first step towards backing it up in the Chinese General Chamber Of Commerce Cup (1,000m) today at Sha Tin.

Unbeaten in two starts in Melbourne, the Caspar Fownes-trained four-year-old simply didn't look to be ready in his first Happy Valley start in March, then a left foreleg problem in April saw him disappear from racing until July.

Although the form guide says Windicator Star (Brett Prebble) finished only ninth of 14 behind Be-Fabulous in that race on the final day, the effort was much better than it looks. Slow away, Windicator Star was rearward in the race to the home turn, then took a length off the leading horses, who were running 22.52 seconds down the straight, despite striking some minor interference midway up the lane.

Dropped four points by the handicapper since, Windicator Star looks to be going much better now, with an eye-catching finish in a recent trial foremost among the evidence for that view.

One possible query with him is the 1,000m distance and the straight course - both of which will be new experiences under race conditions although he seemed to handle them well enough in trials last campaign - but the way the race maps out is another positive for him. In barrier seven, Prebble has Vintage Hussler (Eddy Lai Wai-ming) on his outside in eight and Highland Dragon on his inner in six, and both are likely to be showing early speed. That might make an opening for Windicator Star to push into and get a cart into the race, even if he comes out a bit slowly again.

The 1,000m trip may be a touch on the short side as his preparation progresses but fresh-up here, Windicator Star should be finding the line well in the last 200m.

The Gary Ng Ting-keung-trained Vintage Hussler should lead the outside draw horses, with his main rival for the front Dane Patrol having to work across from barrier two.

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