Two horses close to the heart of Brett Prebble will carry the jockey’s Group One hopes on Cox Plate weekend.

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Prebble rides last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Green Moon in Saturday’s $3 million Cox Plate while on Friday night he partners Hong Kong sprinter Lucky Nine in the $1 million Manikato Stakes.

Prebble has won five Group One races on Lucky Nine and claimed his first Melbourne Cup on Green Moon last year.

The jockey has hopes Green Moon, who missed the Caulfield Stakes two weeks ago with an elevated temperature, is capable of winning a Cox Plate but with the proviso that it needs to be a high-pressure renewal.

“If they go fast enough he’ll be the strong one at the end,” Prebble said.

“If it’s a sit and sprint, the position he’s going to be in, it will be mathematically impossible for him to run home those sectionals. But if the race is run right, they’ll know he’s there.”

Green Moon started favourite in the Cox Plate last year on the back of a Turnbull Stakes victory but he is at $19 this time around.

Lucky Nine makes his Australian debut in the Manikato Stakes, the first of two planned Melbourne spring carnival appearances for the Hong Kong-based star.

“He’s an exciting horse,” Prebble said.

“He’s one of my favourite horses I’ve had anything to do with.”

Lucky Nine won the Singapore KrisFlyer International Sprint at his most recent start in May, defeating Aussie galloper Bel Sprinter who will be among his opposition in the Manikato.

Prebble expects Lucky Nine to make his presence felt in Melbourne, whether it be in Friday night’s race or in the VRC Sprint Classic two weeks later at Flemington.