When Ricky Yiu Poon-fai travels a horse, he doesn’t stuff around.

Victorious in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Japan, the veteran Hong Kong handler boasts an enviable record abroad.

Not counting his four fruitless Macau jaunts, Yiu has returned four winners from 11 overseas runners and boasts a 50 per cent strike rate in Dubai.

Amber Sky’s victory in the 2014 Group One Al Quoz Sprint when it was run over 1,000m is the highlight, while Yiu also snared the Group Three Al Shindagha Sprint (1,200m) with Dynamic Blitz on the Meydan dirt in 2011.

Much like at home in Hong Kong, where all his big-race wins had come courtesy of sprinters before Voyage Bubble arrived, Yiu’s overseas triumphs have come at 1,200m or shorter, including Ultra Fantasy’s success in Japan’s Group One Sprinters Stakes.

Yiu has bucked that trend on home soil with Voyage Bubble’s victories in the Classic Mile, Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) and Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m).

He’ll engage his stable star as he once again attempts to break new ground this weekend, with the task of claiming Saturday night’s Group One Dubai Turf (1,800m) likely the trickiest Yiu has tackled on the world stage.

With victory over the likes of recent Group One Arima Kinen (2,500m) victor Do Deuce and three-time Dubai Turf hero Lord North, Voyage Bubble would become Hong Kong’s first winner of the nine-furlong test – Fairy King Prawn ran second in 2001 – and the city’s first Meydan victor over further than 1,200m since Vengeance Of Rain’s momentous triumph in the 2007 Group One Dubai Sheema Classic (2,400m).

Like Badel aboard Bubble, Yiu goes against the grain with blowout Derby victory

Yiu, who saddles up a runner on Dubai World Cup night for the first time since Amber Sky ran fourth in 2015 when chasing back-to-back Al Quoz Sprint victories, is far from daunted.

“I’ve been really looking to coming back to Dubai and trying to do it again. It’s all about finding the right one,” he said.

“First of all, you’ve got to have the right horse to go. Secondly, you have to understand the horse at that stage is at his peak. That’s when you take the chance to go overseas. Otherwise it’s not worth going.”

While Amber Sky and Voyage Bubble are completely different horses, Yiu can see similarities between the two.

“Amber Sky was at his peak when we took him to Dubai,” Yiu said. “I always remember Joao Moreira saying to me that the main reason the horse could win the race is that he is exceptionally fast out of the gates and he would be two lengths in front of the others, which is a big advantage in a sprint race. In those days it was a 1,000m race, now it is 1,200m.

“Voyage Bubble is in similar condition to what Amber Sky was. I have been speaking to the work rider [Britt McDonald], who rides him every morning, and she has been really happy with the horse. He seems to be enjoying himself and he’s adapted really well.”

Voyage Bubble has hardly put a foot wrong this season, with seconds behind Golden Sixty in the Group One Hong Kong Mile and Romantic Warrior in the Group One Gold Cup (2,000m) to go with his Stewards’ Cup success.

He would, of course, have to find yet another level to taste success in Saturday night’s US$5 million (HK$39.1 million) contest, something Yiu believes he is capable of doing.

“I don’t think we’ve seen his best yet, not in the Derby or even the Stewards’ Cup. He’s still got something up his sleeve,” said the 66-year-old.