Voyage Bubble cemented his place as the king of the mile division with a dominant defence of his Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) crown at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Ricky Yiu Poon-fai’s six-year-old jumped sharply as the $1.8 favourite and never looked in danger in the first leg of the Triple Crown, with the gelding kicking clear at the top of the straight to readily account for his seven rivals under James McDonald.

After recording his third win at the top level aboard Voyage Bubble, McDonald offered a glowing report of the Deep Field gelding, whom he suggested was still improving after his 23rd career start.

“He’s superb,” McDonald said. “He’s just bombproof, jumps fast, puts himself in a good position and quickens.

“I reckon this is the best he’s felt since I’ve ridden him. He strode around to the start with a real purpose and he’s such an easy horse to read.

“When he’s got a real pep in his step, he’s on song and he’s a privilege to ride.”

After finishing second to Golden Sixty in the Hong Kong Mile at the end of 2023, Voyage Bubble has confirmed his spot as Hong Kong’s top miler with a trio of elite-level victories.

He has claimed three of the four Group One contests over a mile since the beginning of last year, with his only defeat coming on a yielding surface in the Champions Mile in April.

Yiu, who registered a double on the afternoon thanks to another $1.8 shot in Sky Joy, was delighted to see his stable star take out the first leg of the Triple Crown.

“I’m going to watch the replay a few times, that was a good race to watch,” Yiu said after the two-length success over Galaxy Patch.

“He seems to do his job a little bit easier every time and you can see he’s improving still with every race. He’s just a really talented horse.”

Voyage Bubble tracked a solid pace set by Brenton Avdulla aboard California Spangle in the first half of the race and made smooth headway turning for home.

After hitting the front 400m out, Voyage Bubble quickly shot three lengths clear of his labouring rivals and galloped relentlessly to the line.

Yiu’s gelding will attempt to become only the second horse to win all three legs of the Triple Crown, with the trainer confirming he will try to emulate River Verdon, who achieved the feat in 1994.

He will look to go one place better in the second leg in next month’s Group One Gold Cup (2,000m) before a tilt at the Group One Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) in May.

“We’re going to give the Triple Crown a crack,” Yiu said.

“Besides his [Hong Kong] Derby win, he was second to a very good horse [Romantic Warrior] in the Gold Cup last year. That’s a very good indication that he can go up to [2,000m] no problem.

“We’ll see a lot more from the second leg to see if he’ll be able to get the 2,400m. Over the 2,400m there could be some overseas horses as well.”

McDonald began a big week with a treble on Sunday, with the Kiwi also saluting aboard Blazing Wind and Bundle Award.

The 33-year-old rider flies to Dubai on Sunday evening in readiness for Romantic Warrior’s bold Group One Jebel Hatta (1,800m) bid at Meydan racecourse on Friday.