With only 293 days to the 2026 HK Derby, Dazzling Fit's back to back victory on Saturday at Sha Tin reminded us that it's never too early to look at the likely lads for next year's classics.
David Eustace-trained Dazzling Fit (pictured) looks a leading contender for a race like the Classic Mile. He underlines what a great debut season Eustace has enjoyed, as he also has our top-rated 3yo, Colourful King. Colourful King produced a 97 rating winning over 1000m at Happy Valley and while he represents some serious ability, he doesn't look at this stage like the kind of sprinter we'll be expecting to stretch out in distance. Still, never say never - quality takes a horse a long way.
For the 4yo series, our excitement is around John Size-trained Sky Jewellery, already producing a 3yo peak of 96. He has rated 90+ at 4 of his 5 starts, missing out only in his train wreck defeat at Happy Valley second time out, when he still rated 89 and would have won and rated 90-plus with a clear path.
Sky Jewellery is also a winner up to 1600m already and both his style and pedigree say he will relish 2000m come Derby time.
Around this time last year, this list was headed by The Winnabe, Ka Ying Rising and Wunderbar and there's a sobering lesson in how their careers have progressed.
While Ka Ying Rising has stormed to the top of the world's rankings, Wunderbar's career has been halted more than once by injury and he has not returned to those early figures. The Winnabe's story with injury has been even worse - we have not seen him at the races for almost a year.