Ricky Yiu Poon-fai has confirmed Voyage Bubble is “most likely” to tackle the Group One Dubai Turf (1,800m) after taking aim at Romantic Warrior in the Group One Gold Cup (2,000m) at Sha Tin later this month.

With James McDonald to continue his sparkling association with Romantic Warrior, Voyage Bubble will be ridden by Zac Purton for the first time in the Gold Cup.

While suggesting a return to the distance of Voyage Bubble’s Hong Kong Derby heroics was unlikely after the five-year-old’s maiden Group One success in last month’s Stewards’ Cup (1,600m), Yiu ultimately decided the Gold Cup was a better option than the Group One Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) two weeks later.

“There’s no races for him otherwise. He needs a mile-plus. He won over 2,000m in the Derby last season. You need to give him a chance, give him a go. Otherwise you’re wasting him for two months doing nothing,” Yiu said of his stable star, who featured alongside the likes of Romantic Warrior, Straight Arron, Beauty Joy, Sword Point and Nimble Nimbus in Tuesday’s Gold Cup entries.

By running Voyage Bubble in the Gold Cup rather than the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup, Yiu has almost five weeks to prepare his charge for the Dubai Turf on World Cup night at Meydan on March 30.

“Most likely we’ll go to Dubai,” Yiu said.

Before turning his attention to next weekend’s Gold Cup, Yiu will head to Sha Tin this Sunday with a galloper he ultimately hopes can give him a chance of winning consecutive Derbies.

Victorious in three of his past four starts, all over the extended Happy Valley mile, Simply Maverick runs at Sha Tin for the first time since October in the Class Three TVB Miss Hong Kong Pageant Handicap (1,800m).

While showing nothing of great substance in three starts at Sha Tin to begin his career, Simply Maverick has really hit his straps in the past three months and Yiu is expecting big things from his four-year-old.

“He’s an exciting horse, really exciting. He’s done well at Happy Valley and I think a big horse like him might be an even better horse at Sha Tin with the big, long straight. He’s improving all the time,” said the veteran handler.

While the second leg of the four-year-old series, March 3’s Classic Cup, takes place over the same course and distance as Simply Maverick’s Sunday assignment, Yiu indicated his son of Sebring would likely skip that race.

“We’re aiming for the Derby already – we’re going to run him in the Derby,” he said.

Another galloper who excites Yiu heading into Sunday’s card is Good Luck Friend, who will race twice in seven days after not gracing the racetrack for 17 months.

Victorious on the opening day of the 2022-23 season, repeated suspensory ligament injuries sidelined Good Luck Friend between that September 11, 2022 success and his return during Monday’s Lunar New Year meeting.

Tenth behind Howdeepisyourlove, Good Luck Friend backs up in the Class Two TVB Cup (1,400m) and Yiu is hopeful the seven-year-old, who was named the 2019-20 Champion Griffin, can add to his six career victories in the coming months.

“He pulled up really well. He’s a very nice horse and I wouldn’t be surprised if he can do well again at the end of the season,” Yiu said.

Meanwhile, Brenton Avdulla will head to Melbourne next Saturday to partner the Will Clarken and Niki O’Shea-trained Kuroyanagi in the Group One Blue Diamond Stakes (1,200m) at Caulfield.