'I am absolutely sure he is as good as he was last year'

Coming to a major international race with the reigning champion is not bothering Falvelon's trainer Danny Bougoure ahead of the Hong Kong Sprint on Sunday. 'There's no extra pressure on us going back as reigning champion, at least I don't feel there's any,' the Australian said. 'You just have to hope your horse gets there fit and well on the day. The fact that he's won it before really has to be a plus. It's always nice to win feature races back to back but especially when it's as big as this one.'

Bougoure, 35, arrived on Monday and was delighted with the condition of Falvelon after his journey from Melbourne. 'He travelled great and flying here from Melbourne is probably the important thing,' he explained. 'If you travel from Sydney, the horses have to fly to Melbourne first anyway, then wait on the tarmac for four or five hours and that's where you can get problems.'

The English bookies have made him joint-favourite for the race with Nuclear Debate, who finished well astern of Falvelon in 2000, but to say the crack Australian sprinter's form on paper is less than last year is something of an understatement.

The four-year-old of 2000 arrived in Hong Kong last December with two dominant Group Two wins in his immediate past and a real feeling the best of him was still to be seen. With regular partner Damien Oliver up, Falvelon won narrowly but decisively and returned to Australia to take his stock higher with a Group One Brisbane victory in May.

It couldn't be more different this time around - three runs this Australian season without a win, two false starts to his current campaign and a failure to capture the imagination at any stage. 'I'm as happy as last year and there is probably not a lot more I can say,' was Bougoure's comment. 'But I suppose you'd look at his form on paper and say it's not as good as it was then. He had a few problems during the campaign in Melbourne this time but now he's through all that. Twelve months ago, the Hong Kong Sprint was always an aim but it was in the back of our minds and Falvelon came over after a successful Melbourne trip. This year, the Hong Kong race was our priority right from the start and the plan was always to make sure he was right for this race.'

With that priority in mind, Bougoure was quick to ease up on Falvelon if things were not going to plan during Melbourne's racing carnival. And they weren't. 'He ran first-up in the Manikato Stakes in August on a heavy track, which he did not appreciate and he had a tough run,' he said. 'After that we put him in a paddock for a 10 days. When he came back and ran in the Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield, he pulled a muscle in his back. It was similar to something he did last year at one stage, although a different part of his back.