- The excitement machine looks to extend his unbeaten run on Sunday
While Sunday will be headlined by Group One champion Beauty Generation looking to protect his 10-win streak, trainer Chris So Wai-yin faces his own pressure cooker moment at Sha Tin.
So will take two of his most promising horses to the races in Classic Unicorn and Mr Croissant and the local trainer admits he feels the weight of expectation that comes with both of them.
Classic Unicorn heads to the Class Three Franck Muller Excellent Handicap (1,000m) looking to take his unbeaten record to three.
The speedy type looks to be on track to kick-off his campaign in style, having drawn a favourable wide barrier for the straight track race with jockey Zac Purton riding, but So knows as well as anyone he cannot start counting his winners until they cross the line.
"Sometimes you go into a day thinking it will be a big one and you don't have any winners so we can only hope at this stage," he laughed.
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Classic Unicorn has been largely untroubled in his two starts to date, burning off his opponents with his devastating early speed, a lethal weapon over the 1,000m trip.
He has showed no signs of losing that early speed during a recent turf barrier trial at Sha Tin.
"I think it is his biggest start yet, it is Class Three and his first start this season," So said.
Classic Unicorn remains unbeaten and claims the Member's Cup for Chris So and Derek Leung! #HKracing pic.twitter.com/JE43wet8AY
" HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) July 7, 2019
"He is going good, has trialled really good but let's see how he runs on race day. He has got a good draw, he should run a really decent race.
"It has been pretty straightforward for him in his career so far, there hasn't been a lot of pressure so this will be different.
"After his last win, he was quite tired so we gave him a big, long rest because there is no rush."
While all of his wins have come up the 1,000m Sha Tin straight, So knows there will come a time when he has to race his four-year-old around the bend.
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"I spoke to Zac, and we agreed that for now we would just put him in the 1,000m race," he said.
"He is a four-year-old now after racing well at three and it seems like he would handle the turn just fine.
"He still has some bad habits, he throws his head to one side, so we will give him a couple of runs and then decide if we go further or not.
"We cannot run him only over 1,000m in the future, but for this moment, it is better to keep him there to teach him some more and hopefully win some races."
Mr Croissant will line up in the Class Three Grand Seiko Excellent Handicap (1,200m) where he will carry the top weight of 133 pounds, also under Purton.
The four-year-old has obvious ability and has never missed a placing in his seven-start career but has struggled at times to put his rivals to the sword.
He will face the likes of Aerohappiness, Lone Eagle and Monica in the race as he looks to make his way to Class Two.
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