[my miss storm cat]

How beautiful is this?

From SCMP.


Gracious Prebble honours Absolute Champion after sprint success

Murray Bell


Brett Prebble dedicated his win on world champion Sacred Kingdom to the previous holder of the global title, Absolute Champion, who was humanely destroyed after breaking down in the same race a year ago.
Prebble was filled with emotion and it went way beyond the euphoria of victory. Apart from the warm memories of Absolute Champion, the 2006 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint hero, he had just won the KrisFlyer Sprint in front of his old boss, Singapore-based trainer John Meagher.

"It's been a tremendously emotional experience for me," Prebble said. "Twelve months ago, this was one of the worst days of my life. Being on Absolute Champion and having him break down in the early stages of this race was just a terrible experience. Absolute Champion was a great sprinter and had tremendous character. I'm dedicating this race to his memory."

Prebble paid a warm tribute to Meagher, the Melbourne Cup-winning trainer who has called Singapore home for the past decade.

"He taught me everything as an apprentice and nothing that I've achieved would have been possible without John and his wife, Ann," Prebble said. "They've been like second parents to me and to win a big race in front of them in Singapore makes it very special."