Anne Marie Duff

SHA Tin hosts the third big Grade 1 race with the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater where former Horse of the Year, the Irish-bred Designs On Rome, Hong Kong’s 10-furlong king, bids for his second big win of the year. He has been beaten twice since winning February’s Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup where he beat Helene Happy Star.

A six-year-old son of Holy Roman Emperor, Designs On Rome has one win from six starts for 2015/16, his worst strike rate in four seasons at Sha Tin, and heads in off a fifth to Werther in the AP QEII Cup.

Trainer John Moore rates Hong Kong’s latest star, Werther as the pick of his four for the HK$10 million showcase. The Tavistock four-year-old won the Hong Kong Derby in March and beat a world-class field when sluicing away with last month’s G1 AP QEII Cup.

Back in 2014, Designs On Rome had a victory over Able Friend in both the HKG1 Hong Kong Classic Cup and Hong Kong Derby and his own impressive triumph in the AP QEII Cup, yet the Irish import failed that season’s final test with a lacklustre fifth to Blazing Speed.

John Moore also has Victory Magic and Helene Happy Star engaged. The former was a head second to Werther in the Hong Kong Derby.

Irish-bred Helene Happy Star’s biggest win came at the course and distance in last season’s Queen Mother Memorial Cup on a yielding track. A close second to Designs On Rome in February’s Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup, a top level breakthrough might be within reach.