Zac Purton is hopeful Chill Kaka can bounce back from a disappointing defeat to end last season when he returns in Sunday’s Class Three Pat Sin Leng Handicap (1,650m) at Sha Tin.

An impressive winner of back-to-back dirt races last term, the Ricky Yiu Poon-fai-trained gelding finished his campaign with a well-beaten 12th behind Ariel in June.

Purton told stewards that Chill Kaka didn’t handle the wet slow track and might have come to the end of his preparation, while a post-race vet examination revealed the son of Shooting To Win had an epiglottic entrapment.

Yiu has given Chill Kaka two trials on the all-weather ahead of his return – a solid fourth and closing second.

“He was racing well before that [last start] and got himself into a good spot, but he just couldn’t close it off and subsequently he’s had a little surgery in the off-season, so hopefully he’s striding out a little bit better and can he can get back to how he was going before that,” Purton said.

“His trials have been OK. He hasn’t been at his best in the trials – he’s needed them. He might need the run. [Up to] 1,650 first time out, but sometimes these horses after a couple of trials can come on quite a bit and it’s early in the season, so a lot of the horses are in the same boat.”

Chill Kaka relished the rise to 1,650m for the first time when he broke through emphatically, bolting in by almost four lengths under Richard Kingscote in March.

The now five-year-old backed it up with Purton on board at his following start, storming home to score under top weight of 135lb.

He was then a beaten $2.4 favourite when running a close second to Dragon Air Force on his first Class Three start.

Resuming in a competitive contest on Sunday, Chill Kaka jumps from barrier eight when he takes on several all-weather specialists.

Never Peter Out is a four-time course and distance winner, Ariel and Dragon Air Force have both won three dirt races and Mojave Desert and Young Brilliant join Chill Kaka as two-time course and distance victors.

Purton, who won the first dirt race of the season on Blazing Wind last Sunday, has a solid book of nine rides on Sunday’s 10-race card.

Four are for trainer David Hayes, including Storm Rider in the final race, the Class Three Ma Kong Shan Handicap (1,200m).

Storm Rider notched just one win last term but went close multiple times with four seconds and a third.

The Dracarys five-year-old has won his two recent trials in blistering style.

“Things didn’t go right in his last race of the season, but his trials have been very good and I think he’ll run a good race, but he is giving the field a bit of weight, isn’t he?,” Hayes said of Storm Rider, who carries top weight of 135lb first up.

“We thought we’d take the blinkers off because he trialled so well without them. I just think he’s a more mature horse this year, so I’m hoping he can get away with the big weight and he’s the sort of horse that will be able to progress up in class.

“He’s a pretty foolproof horse I think and we’re expecting him to run well fresh.”

Field Marshal, Star Brose and Harmony N Blessed are Purton’s other rides for Hayes, while Storm Runner, Peridot, Allcash and Beauty Glory round out the champion jockey’s book of rides.