It’s a big few weeks coming up for Hong Kong race fans. Rich Tapestry runs in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Dan Excel in the Cox Plate or the Emirates Stakes, our top jockeys are engaged in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups and it will become far clearer which horses will be headed this way for the Longines Hong Kong International Races (HKIR).

But the true highlight will be in our backyard, with the Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m) on October 26 shaping up as a race for the ages.

While three of Hong Kong’s top milers – Able Friend (resumes over 1,200m on the same day), Dan Excel (in Australia) and Glorious Days (going fresh into the Hong Kong Mile again) – will miss the race, it will still feature most of Hong Kong’s top horses.

Gold-Fun, California Memory, Dominant, Blazing Speed, Dibayani, Helene Spirit, Rewarding Hero and Flagship Shine are all likely runners, but the main attraction is, in all likelihood, the presence of three horse of the year winners – two-time winner Ambitious Dragon (first-up in almost 18 months), Military Attack (first time out for Caspar Fownes) and Designs On Rome (last season’s Derby winner).

The last time three horse of the year winners lined up against each other was in the 2007 Hong Kong Gold Cup, where Vengeance Of Rain beat Viva Pataca by a neck with Bullish Luck a half length back in third. However, Viva Pataca didn’t win his  HOTY title until the 2008-09 season, so there were only two at the time.

In April 2004, there were three, but only two had already claimed the crown. Silent Witness won the Chairman’s Sprint Prize on his way to horse of the year honours, with Electronic Unicorn (third) and Grand Delight (10th) among the vanquished.

In the 2001 Stewards’ Cup, there were three previous winners – Fairy King Prawn who got the better of a field including Indigenous (fifth) and Oriental Express (seventh), plus a subsequent HOTY winner, Electronic Unicorn (third).

All which goes to show the rarity of the occasion and why it will be the highlight in the coming month.

Obviously, the calibre of horses will continue to improve right up until the HKIR, but we won’t see such a clash again for some time.

It shows, though, how exciting this part of the season is, as the good horses return and the best is still ahead.

In October, there are still so many questions to be answered. Who has come back well? Who will go to another level? Who is past their peak? Who will be ready to fire in December?

It’s such a different mindset to the end of the season when the only question tends to be, will Sean Woods and Almond Lee get to 15 winners?

It can alter if there are exciting finishes in the trainers’ and jockeys’ championships, such as last year, but generally June and July is a downward spiral.

It’s the antithesis of October.