3 minute read

Brett Prebble came out to Nakayama this morning to join his old mate Lucky Bubbles in a spin around the lush grass of the Nakayama turf track.

Lucky Bubbles looked to be in very good shape and although he was a bit of a naughty boy on the back straight Prebble put this down to loneliness and the strange new conditions the horse (not Prebble - he's been here before) coming out of Hong Kong with lots of horses around him and generally another horse to race with to Nakayama where he is the sole overseas raider in the Sprinter Stakes, which will be run on Sunday.

Lucky Bubbles was sporting blinkers this morning and Prebble is going to recommend to the trainer that he keeps them on for the race in order to keep him focused and not distracted by the new surroundings.

When asked about Lucky Bubbles form last season and in particular his start where he came 8th, Prebble said he had not been happy with the horse's action on that occasion, but that today he was very happy with the way the horse moved.

While a very soft track would be new to Lucky Bubbles, Prebble said that this morning on a track that had a bit of the sting out of it owing to recent showers that he thought Lucky Bubbles would probably be fine as he preferred a bit of cut in the going. When asked about Fine Needle, whom Prebble had seen when the horse raced in Hong Kong, he thought that softer ground could chip back at the horse's natural advantage that he got on fast tracks.

It was just a soft drizzle this morning but there is a typhoon somewhere in the region so we are all keeping our fingers crossed that all will be well for Sunday.

Tomorrow Lucky Bubbles will just have some light work on the dirt track with Prebble up and the trainer on hand.