It may have been called the Australian Guineas, but Saturday's A$500,000 (HK$3 million) feature in Melbourne had a distinct Hong Kong flavour as Brett Prebble upstaged Douglas Whyte and Nash Rawiller to win the Group One on Wandjina.

Prebble led home a 1-2-4 result for Hong Kong-based jockeys, leading from the early stages and holding off the late charge of Whyte on Alpine Eagle, with Rawiller a somewhat unlucky fourth on race favourite Kermadec after striking traffic early in the straight.

Prebble, who has ridden 26 winners this season and sits fifth in the jockeys' championship, won his first Group One for leading Sydney trainer Gai Waterhouse and compared her three-year-old to some of Hong Kong's elite gallopers.

"Wandjina is a serious horse, he would be top-class in Hong Kong," he told the Australian press. "I'm not saying he'd be beating Able Friend, but he'd be competitive against him.

"He gave me an awesome feel. He was a little bit keen, so I let him travel at his own tempo and when I went for him he found plenty. I knew the others were there, but the more they came at him the more he gave me."

Thirteen-time champion rider Whyte was also full of praise for Tony McEvoy's Alpine Eagle, who was on a quick back-up and dropping in distance after winning the Group Two Autumn Classic (1,800m) at Caulfield seven days earlier.

"He ran terrific and was finishing two to their one," he said. "I think he's maybe six months away from being the horse he could be - he's a bit immature, but he's the real deal."

Reigning champion Zac Purton was also in Australia yesterday, but in Sydney, where his best result was a fourth in the Randwick Guineas on Bryce Heys-trained Sworn To Silence.