The question for most punters today will not be whether the Tony Cruz-trained California Memory is going to win the Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup (2,000m) for a second time but what odds they are willing to take about the proposition.There are tricks to the run he will get and the possible tempo set, with John Moore's team of six runners having a big say in that, but there's no denying California Memory is the horse they all have to beat.California Memory gave Matthew Chadwick his first Group One

The question for most punters today will not be whether the Tony Cruz-trained California Memory is going to win the Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup (2,000m) for a second time but what odds they are willing to take about the proposition.

There are tricks to the run he will get and the possible tempo set, with John Moore's team of six runners having a big say in that, but there's no denying California Memory is the horse they all have to beat.

California Memory gave Matthew Chadwick his first Group One in this race two years ago as he burst into the top flight with a last-to-first victory and his form at the course since has been almost spotless. Two Hong Kong Cups, a Jockey Club Cup and minor placings in the QE II Cup and last year's Gold Cup have underlined the grey's talent around two turns at Sha Tin. And since his latest facile Hong Kong Cup win two months ago - with all possible favours - the gelding has shown us with his Stewards' Cup third that he is holding that kind of form.

In attempting to have California Memory closer to the top end of the race, Chadwick stuck wide in midfield in an awful place, but the gelding was brave in defeat and kept coming to claim third in one of his best performances in defeat.

And is it his 2,000m skills that look to separate him from the opposition. The best recent race form away from California Memory belongs to his stablemate Pure Champion (Gerald Mosse), Moore's Dan Excel (Neil Callan) and John Size's Fay Fay (Umberto Rispoli).

The first two of those named fought out the Centenary Vase over 1,800m last start under good handicap weights, performing well to give them some chance of knocking over the favourite if they could transfer that to racing over an extra 200m, but their records suggest that is a question mark.

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