Linton to take on Moonlight Cloud in International Mile Outsider: Stradbroke Handicap winner Linton. Photo: Vince Caligiuri HONG KONG: Eight nations, across four continents, are represented at Sunday's International meeting at Sha Tin where some $HK72m ($10.3 million) in prizemoney will be up for grabs. In recent years, few Australian horses have made the trip given the series' close proximity to the riches on offer in Melbourne's spring but Linton - the Stradbroke Handicap winner - has been set for a tilt at the International Mile. The steely grey, which contested a Melbourne Cup when in the care of "Team Williams" as a three year-old, is considered an outsider in the race which Hong Kong-based heroes Ambitious Dragon, Able One and Flash Beauty have won in the past three years. Before, that Good Ba Ba had been untouchable at the elite level over a mile at Sha Tin. His hat-trick of wins holds pride of place in the history of the race, which was first opened to international competition in 1991. While Linton will attract parochial support from an Australian perspective (and he's done well since arriving), French superstar Moonlight Cloud dominates betting and is expected to stretch her unbeaten record to five for this year. Trainer Freddy Head has a real affinity with fillies and mares and, following just a few years after the magnificence of Goldikova, he has Moonlight Cloud ready to secure her seventh group 1 win. Moonlight Cloud seemed to draw well enough in gate six for her assignment although Head was not completely satisfied. "I was hoping for an outside draw so number six is not my favourite pick," he said. There is a lot of speed in the race so hopefully we will get a good gallop, which is what we are looking for. Moonlight Cloud last raced in the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp (1400m) and was imperious in her last-to-first effort. Australians will best remember her as the late-closing threat to Black Caviar in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2012 and the European pundits will not hear of Black Caviar being superior to Moonlight Cloud. Her Timeform rating of 123 is seven points shy of Black Caviar's mark but Moonlight Cloud has been stretched to a mile in the past and come through with flying colours. The only reason she isn't odds-on is that when she last travelled - to the US for the Breeders' Cup Mile last year - she was never a factor behind Wise Dan in a frantically-fast race. An eight-month break from the track followed and four surging wins on home turf have been the reward. Local hopes rest with Richard Gibson's Gold-Fun while Richard Hannon's Sky Lantern - a four-time winner at the top level - will attract serious attention. But this is Moonlight Cloud's race to lose. With Black Caviar and Frankel now well retired, she, to some, has attained the unofficial "best in the world" ranking.