One of the more warmly-debated issues in international racing goes public at Flemington on New Year’s Day.

Good Ba Ba, the former champion racehorse of Hong Kong, resident of seven different racing stables and a horse susceptible to the vagaries of feng shui, is topweight in the Group Three Standish Handicap (1200m).

And barring unforeseen protests and diplomatic intervention, he will run.

Normally the appearance of a horse with the record of Good Ba Ba would be heartily welcomed.

But Good Ba Ba is 11 years old, he hasn’t raced since April last year and, many would say, he’s done more than enough.

Good Ba Ba, or Ho Ba Ba (good father) as Hong Kong’s Chinese punters and racecallers know him, has indeed been a good horse for his owner John Yuen Se-kit.

From his 46 starts he has won 16 times and been placed in nine other races. He’s also won Yuen around $A9.3 million, he claimed the Group One Hong Kong Mile three years in succession and was Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year for 2007-08

Yuen brought Good Ba Ba out of retirement this year, sending him to Rick Hore-Lacy at Caulfield having firstly contemplated racing him in Macau only to abandon the plan in the face of a storm of protest from local racegoers.

There can be no questioning Hore-Lacy’s motives in training a horse he believes is sound and happy, as Good Ba Ba has shown in winning a barrier trial at Cranbourne earlier this month and then running second in another at Pakenham.

“He’s as sound as a bell and he’s been happy to do everything we’ve asked of him,” Hore-Lacy said.

“I can tell you I wouldn’t send him out there if I had any concern.”

But other questions that have nothing to do with Hore-Lacy can be posed about the merits of asking a horse who has done so much to do it again.

During his seven seasons of racing in Hong Kong, Good Ba Ba and his fickle owner attracted notoriety