Former Hong Kong sprinter Amber Sky will benefit greatly from the run when he makes his Australian debut in the Listed $120,000 Kensington Stakes (1000m) at Flemington on Saturday.

Mark Zahra, above, will ride Amber Sky in the Kensington Stakes at Flemington. Photo by Adrienne Bicknell.

Co-trainer Simon Zahra, who trains in partnership with Mathew Ellerton, said that Amber Sky will take great fitness benefit for his first up run down the Flemington straight even though the stable has given him a solid grounding for his Kensington Stakes appearance.

“He’s well. He might be a bit rusty, I reckon on Saturday,” Zahra told AAP.

“He looks like he’ll tighten up nicely from the run.

“He’ll run well, but I reckon he just might feel the pinch a bit late.”

“He might be too good for them, who knows. We just think his fitness will benefit from the run.”

Zahra and Ellerton have had Amber Sky in the stable since last August but because of hoof problems have been unable to get the eight year old to the track until now.

“He’s been here since about August,” Zahra said.

“We had a lot of trouble with his feet. Our farrier did a good job. He stood in a box for about 10 weeks. We got his feet right and then he had a month off and then came back through.”

Mark Zahra takes the ride on Amber Sky who has drawn barrier seven in the eight horse field.

Amber Sky hasn’t raced since finishing third over 1000m at Sha Tin in Hong Kong in May last year but is the winner of seven of his twenty-eight starts which includes his win in the Group 1 US$1m Al Quoz Sprint (1000m) at Meydan in Dubai in 2014.

Zahra and Ellerton will also saddle up Multiple Group 1 winner Flamberge (Damian Lane, barrier 4) and Rock ‘N’ Gold (Chris Symons, barrier 1) in the Kensington Stakes.

Betting at Ladbrokes.com.au for the Kensington Stakes has Amber Sky as the $4.50 favourite, just shading the Darren Weir trained Thermal Current who is the second pick at $4.60 while Flamberge is a $7 and Rock ‘N’ Gold is the outsider of the field at $17.