It is hardly surprising that Victoria's chief handicapper should declare himself a staunch supporter of Australian sprinter Apache Cat in Sunday's $HK12 million Hong Kong Sprint.But it may be the endorsement of his French counterpart that best underlines the curiously-marked galloper's prospects in the 1200m feature.Victoria's Greg Carpenter views Apache Cat as the "darling of Australian racing", with ability to match."I think he will be extraordinarily hard to beat," Carpenter said."He looks gr

It is hardly surprising that Victoria's chief handicapper should declare himself a staunch supporter of Australian sprinter Apache Cat in Sunday's $HK12 million Hong Kong Sprint.

But it may be the endorsement of his French counterpart that best underlines the curiously-marked galloper's prospects in the 1200m feature.

Victoria's Greg Carpenter views Apache Cat as the "darling of Australian racing", with ability to match.

"I think he will be extraordinarily hard to beat," Carpenter said.

"He looks great, but he also has the ability to back it up.

"I think he'll just win."

Apache Cat's main danger, on paper, is the French runner Marchand D'Or, a Group One winner at his past three starts.

While Marchand D'Or has outstanding claims, French handicapper Gerald Sauque doesn't believe they are strong enough.

"Marchand D'Or has been racing very well this season, but I still believe Apache Cat will beat him on Sunday," Sauque said.

The two handicappers are members of an international panel that this week assessed all of Sunday's four feature events at Sha Tin, coming up with Apache Cat in the sprint, Doctor Dino in the Hong Kong Vase (2400m) and Viva Pataca in the Hong Kong Cup (2000m) as clear top picks.

The only race in which they failed to select a clear-cut favourite was the Hong Kong Mile (1600m) in which last year's winner Good Ba Ba held a narrow call over another of the local runners, Armada.

Carpenter also pushed for Douro Valley, the second Australian-trained runner on Hong Kong's biggest race day, and a horse the official international rankings place second only to the favourite Doctor Dino.

"I'm extremely optimistic that he'll finish in the first three," Carpenter said.

"... he's a very consistent horse and is in very good form."

But the overwhelming consensus of the world's handicappers was that the French-trained Doctor Dino would add the Vase to his impressive international record.

Of the 16 handicappers, 12 selected Doctor Dino on top with one of the dissenters Japan's Kabuki Mata who selected Jaguar Mail.

The colt has strong form around recent Japan Cup winner Screen Hero and had won three on end before finishing second to that horse in Tokyo at his last start.