This time, Japanese racing fans will witness the world's highest rated sprinter at his best.
The trainer and jockey of Silent Witness on Thursday were confident of victory in Sunday's Sprinters Stakes, the sixth and final race of the inaugural Global Sprint Challenge spanning three continents.
"We're back to the proper distance in which we're unbeaten so far," trainer Anthony Cruz told a news conference at Nakayama Racecourse following his 6-year-old star's workout. "I'm very happy with his condition this time. We should be ready this time."
Said jockey Felix Coetzee: "There's always pressure with him because of the high level of expectancy for him to consistently perform. But he's feeling like he does at home. And it gives you a lot of confidence when he feels like that."
Hong Kong racing's best and brightest is back in Japan after his third-place finish in the Yasuda Kinen in June, a mile contest at Tokyo Racecourse featuring a punishing home stretch of 525 meters.
The 1,200-meter Sprinters Stakes will be Silent Witness' first race since bowing to the local duo of Asakusa Den'en and Sweep Tosho at the Fuchu track, and Cruz and Coetzee have every right to like their chances come Sunday afternoon.
Silent Witness is unbeaten in four starts at the distance of six furlongs. The Aussie-bred bay also has never lost to the Sprinters Stakes' other Hong Kong entry, Cape of Good Hope, who already has the Global Sprint Challenge title sewn up with a 44-point advantage. Cape of Good Hope was third in last year's Sprinters Stakes held on a soft track.
Silent Witness arrived for the Yasuda Kinen 20-plus kilograms under his regular racing weight, but on the current trip, he has managed to stay closer to his best weight.
"This time around, he didn't lose as many pounds he did in the Yasuda Kinen race," Cruz said. "He's taken it much better this time. Travels better, eats better. All around, better than last time."
"I feel like he's benefited from that experience," Coetzee said, referring to the first travel to Japan. "He's feeling much calmer, he's feeling confidence in himself and he feels very much like he does at home."
Plus, Cruz says, the present condition of the turf at Nakayama will favor the frontrunners. On Thursday, against workout partner in High Lilli, Silent Witness roared through the tighter dirt course, clocking just above 35 seconds over three furlongs.
"He's feeling terrific. I'm very, very happy with his work," Coetzee said of his mount, who started training at 7:40 a.m. under the clear, blue morning skies in Chiba Prefecture and was through by five minutes to 8 a.m.
So is it a wonder Cruz and Coetzee were all smiles ahead of Sunday's Group 1 race? Why wouldn't Silent Witness be emerging as the early favorite ahead of the Global Sprint Challenge champion, or local stars such as Calstone Light O and Durandal?
Asked if he felt pressed to restore the winning ways of Silent Witness, who powered to 17 consecutive victories until falling in the Hong Kong Champions Mile in May, Cruz said: "There's always pressure wherever he runs. This is his chance, this will be his day on Sunday.
"There's a saying that goes 'You can't keep a good horse down.' How true that is."
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