For Matthew Poon Ming-fai, the prized ride on Voyage Bubble couldn’t have come at a better time as he bids to end a long winning drought in Sunday’s Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m).

It has been more than four months and a staggering 135 rides since Poon last visited the winners’ enclosure, but the reigning Tony Cruz Award winner isn’t letting the drought get him down.

“The only thing I can do is just stay positive and the winner will come, but hopefully it won’t be too long,” Poon said.

While Poon’s losing drought is not the longest in Hong Kong, he is closing in on Lyle Hewitson’s 140-ride streak from 2019.

The longest drought this century is believed to be Alvin Ng Ka-chun’s 172 rides in the 2017-18 season, while Chung Chim-ki had 182 rides without a winner between 1994 and 1996.

Set to ride Voyage Bubble for the first time on race day, Poon is confident last season’s Triple Crown hero will make his presence felt despite carrying top weight of 135lb against quality opposition.

The Ricky Yiu Poon-fai-trained gelding returns from a historic campaign featuring four Group One victories and the first Triple Crown success – claiming the Stewards’ Cup (1,600m), Gold Cup (2,000m) and Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) – since River Verdon in 1993-94.

“I can’t thank the owners and Ricky enough for giving me such a great opportunity to jump on the Triple Crown horse,” Poon said.

“I’m really looking forward to riding Bubble against some rising stars – it will be a very interesting race.

“[The weight] is my only worry, but you can see Bubble has a lot of ability and he’s a big horse. Hopefully he can handle 135lb, but some other rising stars only carry 115lb, so we’ll see. Hopefully I can win together with Bubble.”

Voyage Bubble ran second to Galaxy Patch in last year’s Sha Tin Trophy under 135lb, but he was trapped wide without cover in a gutsy performance.

The son of Deep Field has drawn to get a kinder run on Sunday from gate six while his main rival, emerging star My Wish, jumps from barrier 11.

While Voyage Bubble made late ground to run fourth in his latest trial, his gallop on the Sha Tin turf last Saturday gave Poon a big boost in confidence.

“The trial I would say was just OK. He was building his condition and improving his form. But after the trial, I galloped him on the grass and he felt like he improved. I really liked his grass gallop,” Poon said.

Jerry Chau Chun-lok will take his first race ride on Galaxy Patch and is optimistic the Pierre Ng Pang-chi-trained galloper can run a bold race.

“I think he’ll run well. He’s trialled well every time and he’s ready for the Group Two,” Chau said of Galaxy Patch, who hasn’t won since last year’s Sha Tin Trophy.

“He’s settled down this season and in his trials, he was settled and followed my instructions.

“My Wish is an up-and-coming horse and he’s got a light weight [115lb], but we’ll try our best.”

Galaxy Patch carries 122lb and jumps from barrier nine in his bid to join California Spangle (2022-23) and Beauty Generation (2017-18) as back-to-back Sha Tin Trophy victors.