The confusingly named Prince Jewellery & Watch Premier Cup (1,000m) is also probably the most disappointing Class One feature of recent seasons but it could prove a valuable event for Tony Cruz if California Bounty gets the job done, reports HK Racing Post.

 

It seems we had the Premier Cup last week, too, as the feature but that was a Group Three with some substance to it, while today's trophy race has just six runners and several would struggle to even be considered place chances for a normal Class One.

But they all count in the chase for the championship and California Bounty (Matthew Chadwick) finds a winnable task down the straight at the three-year-old's first tilt at Class One and he looks the most immediately progressive runner in the race.

California Bounty was well experienced at straight racing in his prior career in Ireland, England and France, including three wins.

So it was no surprise to see him take to the straight racing caper at his second local outing, proving too good for Little Cow in April and then going on with the job when he stepped out at Happy Valley over 1,000m again last month.

California Bounty's wins have been tradesmanlike rather than spectacular but that will be enough to see him too good for most of his rivals, particularly with what looks an ideal race pan. California Bounty appears the most likely leader and Chadwick may be out there on his own dictating, unless Arrived Ahead or newcomer Lucky Double Eight (Richard Fourie) is ridden with some aggression to put pressure on him.

California Bounty's most serious danger, Windicator Star (Tye Angland), is frequently slow to begin so his prospects may rely either on his own start or another runner to make the leader busy.

Although he concedes weight to California Bounty, Windicator Star certainly has the talent to make this a real race with the likely favourite.