Alexis Badel is convinced more feature-race glory beckons for Happy Together after the French jockey and quality galloper combined for a fifth win this season at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Capping a double for Badel on the day, Frankie Lor Fu-chuen’s Happy Together continued his winning spree with a tough performance in the Class Two South Wall Handicap (1,800m).

The son of Dragon Pulse settled fifth on the inside rail before Badel angled him to the centre of the track at the 400m.

Despite carrying 133 pounds, Happy Together ran on strongly to nail leader Champion Dragon by a short head.

Badel was full of praise for Happy Together, who has only finished out of the placings once from eight starts this term.

“Happy Together was another strong win because I thought it was difficult to carry that much weight,” Badel said.

“The 1,800m with the [yielding] track condition, I could see a lot of threats from the bottom weights in this race but he keeps surprising me.”

Badel said Happy Together can add to his Group Three January Cup (1,800m) win at Happy Valley last month by stepping back up to feature races.

“I think he’s a good horse. He’s got a big heart, he’s got good ability and he seems to be in great form at the moment. I think he’s good enough to step up to a higher level,” Badel said.

Badel scored the first leg of his double in brilliant style, overcoming a difficult run on Solid Impact to sensationally win the Class Three Nam Kok Handicap (1,200m).

Stranded on the inside in desperate need of clear running, Badel had to wait until the 150m to find a gap between rivals and bring the David Hall-trained gelding with a late burst.

The son of Sweynesse sprinted powerfully to deny the $1.90 favourite, Eighty Light Years, by a short head in his first victory since February last year.

“The first one for David Hall was sensational,” Badel said of Solid Impact.

“The ground probably helped me, the draw [barrier two] – everything fell into place at the right time. It was a convincing run and I’m glad it turned out well.”

Badel boosted his seasonal tally to 25 wins, joining the injured Vincent Ho Chak-yiu in equal sixth position in the jockeys’ premiership.

Hall joined Badel with a double of his own courtesy of Solid Impact and Star Club, who justified $2.10 favouritism to record a dominant win in the Class Four Lok Sin Tong Cup (1,200m).

The veteran Australian handler conceded Solid Impact had been frustrating during his winless streak.

“He’s had a lot of bad luck on a number of occasions and we were trying 1,650m at Happy Valley, but nothing seemed to work right for him there,” Hall said.

“So I decided to freshen him up and bring him back to Sha Tin and it looked like he was going to have another hard-luck story today.

“Fortunately enough, his rating’s come down a little bit and he was able to sprint really hard off that lighter weight and luckily we got up on the line.”

Zac Purton was at his brilliant best on Star Club, guiding the Star Turn gelding to victory from near last on the inside rail in the early stages.

“It was good to get the win after being so unlucky last time,” Hall said. “I think he’s clearly got Class Three ability all day long and as he matures, I think he’ll continue to get better.”