Trainer Michael Chang Chun-wai is enjoying a bumper season and can add to his career-best total of 22 wins with Speed Racer in the opening leg of tomorrow's Triple Trio at Sha Tin.
With the main prize expected to swell to a whopping HK$45 million, Speed Racer may seem a risky banker play to kick off the TT, but he has been finishing his races off with plenty of zest following a drop into the bottom grade in January.
He had shown nothing in his first three runs in Class Four, before showing improvement when dropping to this class with three eye-catching efforts over 1,400 and this course and distance (1,600m). The four-year-old finally gets options in the run from a better gate for premiership leader Brett Prebble
Speed Racer returns to side winkers for this run and, off a likely softer trip from gate six, the grey will be hard to keep out of the finish.
Wait For Me is backing up after a solid fourth last Sunday behind Noble De Best in Class Four and can simplify first-leg calculations. Joyful Years, Cover Boy, Pacific Alliance, Super Ideal and Touch Lucky are worth considering for a placing.
In the middle leg, Elite Fortune has been knocking on the door, including a closing second two starts back behind Lucky Photo Frame over this course and distance on wet ground after moving to Tony Millard. He looks a standout after a nice grass trial win 11 days ago.