Contentment did what most expected in the Group Three Celebration Cup (1,400m) and returned to racing a winner and firmly on a path to the Longines Hong Kong Mile, but trainer John Size was only talking about the relief he felt.

Contentment, topping off a Joao Moreira treble, planted himself just behind the speed, pounced on the lead at the 200m mark and then did enough once again to take his record to seven wins from 10 starts.

But there were no wild scenes or outlandish predictions from Size, just the knowledge that Contentment has now taken himself properly into the A-grade and programming choices have become a thing of the past.

"Look, it's a relief. When you have a horse like this, there is an expectation that he's going to keep producing the goods every time, so coming back from a spell and into Group company for the first time, yes, it is a relief more than anything when he wins," Size said.

"He can't do much more than he has done to date and now he'll be rated over 110, so there aren't too many options either.

"The path to the mile on international day is clear. And it will be the mile - the 2,000m race can be a harder assignment some years and I already know Contentment can run a strong mile. There's no point stretching him out until I have to."

Moreira has always been a big Contentment fan but said yesterday's victory was a key moment in the five-year-old's progression to the top.

"There were a few things he did wrong in his races last season, which you don't get away with once you start to meet the Group horses," Moreira said. "But today he didn't try to pull, he relaxed like a mature racehorse and, for me, that's what he needed to do if he's going to win big races."

Richard Gibson-trained Giant Treasure ran through between horses in the final 200m to cut the winner's margin to a half length, while 2014 runner-up Super Lifeline ran out of his skin again, finishing third a further two lengths back after a wide run.

"Full credit to the winner, but I thought Giant Treasure ran well. He didn't have the clearest room the last 200m and he's promising," Gibson said. "My other one Dundonnell struggled a bit with the weight at 1,400m first-up and I think he'll be better dropping back to 1,200m next run."

John Moore-trained Dan Excel and Dominant found the 1,400m and handicap conditions too tough to be competitive, but caught the eye working home into midfield and Moore said both are on target for December.

"Dan Excel was good with 133 pounds, but the one I'm excited about right now is Dominant," he said. "He's been working the place down and seems to have come back in a real purple patch of form. As we know, he wants a staying trip before he becomes competitive, but he's really well in himself."