American sprinter Nobals missed work at Sha Tin on Tuesday morning as he continues to battle a fever, while Japanese darling Liberty Island is “getting lighter and lighter” as she settles into her Sha Tin surrounds.

Group One Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) entrant Nobals is currently being treated for a “fever with evidence of an infection”, with Jockey Club chief steward Marc van Gestel confirming “it has been recommended that the horse does not undertake any exercise on the training track until cleared by vets”.

Should Nobals be passed fit to tackle Sunday’s contest, he will lock horns with boom local speedster Ka Ying Rising, who covered 400m on the all-weather track in 22.6 seconds on Tuesday morning.

“He was good this morning. I’m very happy and more importantly Zac [Purton] was very happy. We just let him stretch his legs for 400m and he showed me he’s ready to go,” said trainer David Hayes.

Liberty Island also stretched her legs on the all-weather track, with work rider Yuya Katayama pleased with what he saw from the Mitsumasa Nakauchida-trained Group One Hong Kong Cup (2,000m) hopeful.

“Today I did flat work a bit longer before she worked on the all-weather for one and a half laps before she was walking in the paddock to get familiarised with it,” Katayama said.

“Her moves are getting lighter and lighter day by day. I think she is in good shape and has been preparing well for [Wednesday’s] solid work and the race.

“The paddock will be full of people and we have to walk close to people, so considering those situations I intentionally walked her close to the photographers and media people, but she was calm without any problem.”

The Harry Eustace-trained Docklands was one of two horses to work on the turf on Tuesday morning, with the British galloper tuning up for the Group One Hong Kong Mile with a strong canter.

“We arrived in Hong Kong 10 days ago, so we’ve had a bit longer than everyone else and we’re just keeping him ticking over,” said stable representative Laura Pike.

“He had a nice routine canter on the grass today. He’s so fit, so we’re just trying to freshen him up and keep him happy. He seems in great form. I was really happy with that today.

“He’s going to do another bit on the grass on Thursday, when he’ll have a blow before his race on Sunday. He loves his work. He’s very bonny. He loves the cameras.”