Tony Cruz has had most of his runners ready to fire early this season and Mega Champion looks placed to carry on his good start in the Hong Kong Country Club Challenge Cup (1,650m) tonight at Happy Valley, reports the HK Racing Post.
The five-year-old once looked destined to be an under-achiever but slowly got his act together to become a consistent middle-grade miler and Mega Champion (Matthew Chadwick) has put together a sound record over this trip.
He finished last term with a solid finish for second to stablemate Supreme Genki over 1,400m at Sha Tin, but his record at Happy Valley is better and he has the tactical abilities to take advantage of a low draw.
That looks a key factor, with Shiny Day (Ben So Tik-hung) likely to cross the field from the outside and lead, and without too many rivals for the front he should roll along at only an even speed once there.
Mega Champion looks one of the first chasing group, with other well-drawn runners in Enabling and Polymer Win, putting him in the right position to issue a challenge on straightening.
Mega Champion trialled on September 4 on the all-weather track and it was difficult to gauge his effort in sloppy conditions on that particular morning, but the effort seemed sound enough. He isn't the biggest horse in the Cruz stable and, as a result, Mega Champion has always been a horse who comes to hand quite quickly, even though he is still a stallion.
Shiny Day is notoriously hard to run down when he gets his lead and looks a serious threat in the race.
He hasn't trialled but he has won first-up in the past and raced well fresh last season without the benefit of a trial.
The Caspar Fownes-trained Peppermint (Zac Purton) looks ready to perform well and Uwillbeglorious (Derek Leung Ka-chun) is backing up from a sound run last week when finishing on behind a fast pace.