Cadeaux bids for prize-money record

Red Cadeaux bids to become the greatest money-earner in the history of English racing by plundering the HK$20 million Audemars Piguet QEII Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Owned by former Hong Kong Jockey Club Chairman Ronnie Arculli and trained by Ed Dunlop, racing's Alan Whicker equivalent needs to finish sixth or better in the Group One feature to push his earnings beyond the £5 million mark.

Incredibly, all but £300,000 of that amount has been earned outside the UK and the gelding has gained widespread acclaim for his foreign ventures.

Those have included an amazing three second placings in the Melbourne Cup and a recent near-miss in Group One Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick, where the easy conditions didn't suit the Dunlop raider. Nevertheless, that fine effort contributed another A$750,000 to the kitty.

Red Cadeaux has two and a half lengths to find with Criterion on their recent meeting Down Under and will have Hugh Bowman back in the plate.

His training has gone exactly to plan, and Red Cadeaux's constant companion Robin Trevor-Jones said: "The ground was far from ideal last time and moving back to 2,000 metres on a quicker surface is probably what he needs."

Arculli has indicated there are no plans to retire the gelding as he comes into Sunday's race just 15 days after his latest appearance Down Under.

Locally-trained Designs On Rome looks like starting favourite as he bids for back-to-back triumphs in the QEII.

However, the John Moore-trained galloper has to put behind him a disappointing run in Dubai.

Of the 2013 Horse Of The Year, Moore said: "We know horses coming back from trips like he's done can be jaded, but Joao (Moreira) reckons he's improved dramatically in his work over the past week or so."

The vibes from the training track about French challenger Smoking Sun are not encouraging, as the Pascal Bary-trained entire proved reluctant to gallop on Thursday and was again looking temperamental when equipped with blinkers for his work on Friday.