Contentment took out the award as the horse who improved his rating the most this season and the John Size-trained gelding can cap a brilliant first campaign with the Sha Tin Mile Trophy this afternoon, reports Racing Post HK.
Contentment (Joao Moreira) has already won five of his eight starts in this his first season and six wins in a season is rarefied air any time but the four-year-old goes to this afternoon's Class One feature still with his best ahead of him.
Sha Tin Mile Trophy winners have been a mixed bag, sometimes like Silver Grecian or Wonderful Moments, who didn't quite go on to greatness and others like Dan Excel in 2012 and Designs On Rome two years ago, who did.
Time will tell but Contentment has so far given indications he might trend more towards the latter, given that he has done what he has done this season in the space of only seven months since his racecourse debut.
The son of Hussonet has the tactical speed and attitude to make his progress easier than many with similar talent, and today's cup could hardly be better tailored for him.
Twin Delight's scratching yesterday looked significant, as it leaves the race with just three natural on-pace runners, in Contentment, his stablemate Wonderful Moments (Jack Wong Ho-nam) and lightly weightedFantastic Kaka (Ben So Tik-hung).
With Contentment drawn to the outside of likely leader Wonderful Moments, Moreira would likely follow Wonderful Moments forward and across and sit to his outside.
It's a while since Fantastic Kaka led a race and he is most likely to take the box seat but, if he did boot up and hold Wonderful Moments off the rail, or even if Kabayan elected to punch through early then Moreira can drop in behind any injection of speed.
However the early part plays out, Contentment should find a nice place in a race which likely slows during the middle stages, barring major tactical changes, and should offer some advantage to those horses able to race prominently.
His main danger is Fantastic Kaka, so how the Peter Ho Leung-trained five-year-old is handled will be crucial.
Last start, Fantastic Kaka was third to Contentment after getting a little keen at times in a similar modest tempo and he was then held up for clear running in the straight while the winner slipped clear.
Fantastic Kaka was beaten a length but should certainly have got closer.
Today's race could pan out much the same way, with Fantastic Kaka needing room in the straight from that inside barrier, but, if he does get the right runs at the right times, he is weighted to make Contentment earn anything he gets.