Trainer David Hall will be looking for big performances, and even a little future guidance, from top sprinters Bundle Of Joy and Rad at next Thursday’s National Day card at Sha Tin.

With former partner Joao Moreira now on Peniaphobia, Gerald Mosse is the new pilot for Bundle Of Joy, looking for back-to-back wins in the Group Three National Day Cup (1,000 metres) as the gelding returns from the joint surgery he underwent in April.

“Bundle Of Joy’s a big, gross horse who needed his first trial, but I’m happy with him,” Hall said. “Gerald was much happier after the second trial, too, but you still like to see them do it again after surgery.

“This won’t be easy but what gives me some confidence we can beat a horse like Peniaphobia is that he will be peaking for the Hong Kong Sprint, while mine are both targeting this. After that, we’ll have to look at the options.”

Win, lose or draw, Hall has plenty to think about, with Bundle Of Joy and Rad having imposing records down the straight and virtually nothing to play for on that course now that the Centenary Sprint is gone.

In 2014, the reconfigured National Day Cup was the occasion for Bundle Of Joy and Peniaphobia to announce their arrival at the top when they prevailed over Amber Sky and they later fought out a tooth-and-nail finish to the Group One Centenary Sprint Cup, with Bundle Of Joy under Moreira just touched off.

The National Day Cup handicaps certainly look different now. Last year, Amber Sky carried 132 pounds and fought for favouritism with Rad before others dominated the finish. This time Peniaphobia carries 19 pounds more, Bundle Of Joy 14 pounds more and even Rad eight pounds more, while Amber Sky drops to 129 pounds.“I was looking at the weights when they came out and it struck me that the lightweights from last year weren’t the lightweights any more and Amber Sky is actually looking pretty well handicapped,” Hall said.

Another star on the comeback soon from arthroscopic surgery is Designs On Rome, who is scheduled to resume on October 25 and the former horse of the year had his first gallop yesterday since an operation on both of his front fetlocks in May.

“He pulled up well and everything was fine according to my staff,” said trainer John Moore, who was not present in Hong Kong. “He’s on target to run first-up in the Sha Tin Trophy, which is where he kicked off last year on the way to winning the Hong Kong Cup.”

"There's been nothing negative since he returned from his joint surgery, no abnormalities, so I'm confident he'll get back to his best."