Light Years Charm continued his march up the ratings and trainer David Eustace’s impressive first Hong Kong campaign kept rolling during the season’s first twilight meeting at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Chasing back-to-back victories on Class Two debut, Light Years Charm was sent off the $1.7 favourite for the Lee On Handicap (1,400m), but there were a few nervous moments for his supporters and connections.

Not known for being the quickest away, Light Years Charm found himself detached from the field after being squeezed between horses early.

Still last turning for home but looming ominously, Light Years Charm barrelled home down the outside under Zac Purton to salute by a length and a half eased down.

“It was a perfect ride. The horse actually did jump better than he normally does but he got squeezed at the start,” said Eustace.

“Zac took his time and assessed the pace up front and the horse lengthened really well.”

In a race run well over a second inside standard for the final 1,200m, Purton bided his time before pouncing on his tiring opponents.

“It was a really good effort. He actually didn’t begin that bad but the runner on the inside and the runner on the outside both shifted ground so that put him on the back foot, but I just left him alone,” said the jockey.

“The other guys were busy running their 1,000m race and when they were finished doing that, I just chimed in at the 400m and ran the race like it should have been run.”

Light Years Charm’s third Hong Kong victory will lift his rating into the 90s and Eustace is considering one more run before turning his attention to next season with the four-year-old.

“There’s a Class Two [1,400m] on July 1 which is fairly tempting. We’ll see how we go,” said Eustace.

“He’ll definitely appreciate a break [when it comes] and I hope he’ll get better next season. He’s doing nothing wrong at the moment.

“It’s hard to know what the ceiling is. He’s only four and he’s a big, raw horse. It would be wrong for me to put targets on his back. We’ll see how far he gets.

“He’s obviously going to have to continue to improve, but hopefully he can.”

Eustace took his total to 30 winners for the season and with the stable operating in solid form, he’s hopeful of finishing the term with a flourish.

“[I’m] happy with how it’s gone so far. They’ve raced well and consistently, and the team at home are doing a great job. We’ll try and round the season out well,” he said.

The victory of Light Years Charm completed a double for seven-time Hong Kong champion jockey Purton after his earlier success aboard the John Size-trained Ping Hai Comet in the Class Four Lam Tin Handicap (1,600m).

It was a super training effort from Size to have his five-year-old ready to win over the Sha Tin mile just 11 days after breaking his maiden with victory over 2,200m at Happy Valley.

Size left Sha Tin with a brace of his own thanks to the later success of Majestic Express in the Class Three On Yam Handicap (1,000m).

The master handler is edging ever closer to his 13th trainers’ premiership after increasing his lead over the second-placed David Hayes to eight wins with 10 meetings remaining.