Trainer John Gosden yesterday allayed any fears that HK$15 million Longines Hong Kong Vase favourite, The Fugue, might have been a victim of her long journey last weekend, reports the Racing Post HK. Owned by famed composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber, The Fugue has been one of the shortest of Sunday's public fancies since markets went up, but her non-appearance at trackwork for several days, and her limited exercise when she did appear, had rung alarm bells.

"I wasn't so happy 48 hours ago, but she has perked up a lot. She was quiet in herself and not eating as you'd want - now she's right back on her game," Gosden said.

"All of that is fairly normal here. She flew Sunday, London to Frankfurt, then she was on the ground for a while before a direct flight here and got in early on Monday.

"It's a long trip and, for most horses that travel, it's tough on them and tougher coming this way, no doubt, as it is with people. It's the rotation of the earth going against the body clock.

"She's very fit, it was a case of her getting over the travel and what I didn't want to do was put her on the track and see how fast she can run."

What has made The Fugue a commanding favourite for this race was her second in the Breeders' Cup Turf last month at Santa Anita, run down by Aidan O'Brien's Magician, ridden by Ryan Moore.

"She ran a blinder. We assessed the form very carefully there of all the horses we thought we had the measure of and there was only one joker in the pack. Magician was impossible to assess - devastating in winning the Irish 2000 Guineas then finished last in the St James's Palace Stakes and hadn't been seen since," Gosden said.

"He's freakishly good and what can you do when you see horses run those fractions and then something runs the last quarter in 22 seconds? Ryan isn't a man who compliments horses, but told me Magician is a machine. Time will prove, if he stays right, that he will be the champion older horse next year."

The Fugue was coming to Sha Tin 12 months ago, when she encountered a problem before flying and the trip was called off.

"And that meant it was written in stone she would come this year. It was always the plan and, in some ways, it's more suitable this year than last, as she didn't start racing until June," Gosden pointed out.

"Last year, she was training in early February to be ready for the 1000 Guineas, so it was a much longer year had she come.

"But she's very fit. We did the fast work with her at home, and it's always suited most horses - and certainly her type, a light-framed filly - not to be coming here and breezing before the race."