The Classic Cup has produced a mixed bag of winners over the last 15 years but David Hayes hopes Rubylot can take his first step towards becoming "a genuine Group horse" when he returns to open company at Sha Tin on Sunday.
In recent years, the second leg of the four-year-old series has been won by champions like Golden Sixty and Designs On Rome but it has also been taken out by gallopers who were disappointing thereafter and, in some instances, never won another race in their career.
The 2019 Classic Cup winner, Mission Tycoon, failed to win again in his next 17 starts before retiring on a rating of 72, while It Has To Be You tasted success in the 2013 renewal and did not return to the winner's enclosure in his next nine starts before retirement.
Bidding to maintain an upward trajectory after a respectable fifth in the BMW Hong Kong Derby, Rubylot returns to Sha Tin on Sunday in race eight - a Class One over 1,400 meters - on a rating of 100.
The four-year-old will carry 119lb under Karis Teetan when he returns to open company and Hayes is confident his charge will head in the right direction after the four-year-old instead of following the downward spiral of some Classic Cup winners.
"I hope he can keep going," Hayes told The Standard. "I think he'll end up well above 100 and so will My Wish, who was of course second in the Derby. They look like the two standout four-year-olds heading into next season.
"I think if Rubylot improves a little bit next season he has what it takes to be a genuine Group horse."
Rubylot has won three times over Sha Tin's 1,400m course and will jump from barrier eight in this weekend's feature before being thrown into the deep end for the G1 QE II Cup over 2,000m on Champions Day.
While Hayes acknowledges he would prefer more time before the marquee meeting at Sha Tin on April 27, the 62-year-old handler believes Sunday's race shapes as a perfect prep for the HK$28 million contest.
"From that barrier, he'll be ridden quietly and I expect him to be hitting the line hard," he said. "That's just what I'm after two weeks before Champions Day.
"In an ideal world, you would probably have another week or two in between runs but I didn't want to go five weeks from the Derby to the QE II."
Jack Dawling
