A drizzly Sunday silence at a near-deserted Sha Tin on Sunday was filled with a sense of a champion bouncing back as Beauty Generation got the better of old foe Waikuku for the first time since October in the Chairman's Trophy.
The G2 contest had been billed as a dress rehearsal for the G1 Champions Mile on April 26th and, with Waikuku having been off the track for eleven weeks since beating Beauty Generation by a neck in the Stewards' Cup, John Moore and Zac Purton went into the £400,000 contest optimistic that Hong Kong's dual Horse of the Year could back up his February win in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup.
Punters took a different view - sending Waikuku off at 1.7 to finish ahead of Hong Kong's dual Horse of the Year for the fifth time in a row - but the ex-Irish gelding ran no sort of race as Beauty Generation charged between Ka Ying Star and Southern Legend to score by half a length and the same.
"The tempo was perfect and everything went to plan," said a delighted Moore. "And the one thing I liked was when Zac got off he said that when they came at him he showed some of his old fighting heart. He wanted to get into it. I won't say exactly what Zac said as it's quite vulgar but he just knuckled down and said **** you!"
Ka Ying Star took the seven-strong field through even fractions, closely pursued by Southern Legend and Beauty Generation with Waikuku stalking the trio on the inside.
Moreira found no response as he called on Waikuku early in the home straight but Beauty Generation travelled with much of his old aggression and, although he never looked like forging clear, it was noticeable that Purton never had to resort to the whip to maintain his narrow advantage throughout the closing stages.
"He couldn't have blown a match out afterwards," added Moore. "There's no improvement in him. We've got him as fit as we can get him but if the old boy is feeling in that mood coming into the Champions Mile he's got to be right there."
Record breaking has been a recurring feature of Beauty Generation's lengthy spell at or near the top and this success - his 18th from 30 Sha Tin starts - made him the first horse to break through the HK$100m (£10.5m) prize money barrier in Hong Kong.
A further £2m is in the pot for the Champions Mile and Moore is wary of the threat that last month's BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Golden Sixty might present on what will be the verteran handler's final major G1 weekend before he retires at the end of the season in July.
"I'm worried," he smiled. "Golden Sixty is an exceptional racehorse on the up with age on his side and he hits the line seriously strongly. He's the new boy on the block and I would have to say that he puts a bit of fright into the team but it's making for a great race on the 26th and that's what the Hong Kong racing public and the world wants to see."
