Mark Newnham is four strong for Sunday’s Classic Mile at Sha Tin and hopes his squad of Invincible Ibis, Infinite Resolve, Crimson Flash and Winfield can get the job done as he goes for back-to-back wins.

My Wish provided Newnham with his breakout Hong Kong victory 12 months ago and after a stellar campaign that has seen him rise through the grades, Invincible Ibis looks to be his biggest chance of repeating the dose.

Beaten off a rating of 55 for his opening run of the campaign in September over 1,200m, Invincible Ibis has gone from strength to strength since, with the step up to 1,400m and beyond working the oracle.

He is unbeaten in four starts since that rise in distance and most recently, he quickened up smartly to win over Beauty Bolt in Class Three company carrying top weight of 135lb.

His regular partner Zac Purton has hopped off to ride Sagacious Life, but Hugh Bowman is more than an ample replacement and Newnham is hopeful the best is still yet to come from him from barrier 11.

“He’s maintained his form since his last run; he’s unbeaten since he went up in distance to the 1,400m and beyond,” said Newnham.

“I thought his last win was his best, as he carried top weight and had to make a long run. Hugh was very happy with his final gallop on Tuesday.

“I think this year is a stronger race than last, there’s a lot of horses in form going into it. I think the barrier is going to be very significant on the outcome.”

Perhaps Newnham’s second in line is Infinite Resolve, who flies into the race under the radar with just one win from eight local starts.

An impressive winner over 1,200m two starts ago when lashing home, he hit the line very strongly over 1,400m on his most recent start when only finding fellow Classic Mile contender Little Paradise too strong.

The mile is a query, but Newnham thinks his most recent bit of form gives him a fighting chance of being in the frame under Alexis Badel.

“His last two runs have been very good – his run behind Little Paradise was very strong and he got held up a little bit too,” said Newnham of the Snitzel galloper, who breaks from barrier three.

“The mile is a question mark, but he’s certainly done enough to earn his spot in the race.”

There are bigger queries to answer for his final two runners, however, with Winfield and Crimson Flash both having glaring questions to answer ahead of their tilts under jockeys Lyle Hewitson and Andrea Atzeni, respectively.

Crimson Flash has gained two of his three wins over the 1,200m trip at Happy Valley and will face his stiffest task in terms of stamina on Sunday, while Winfield, who downed Sagacious Life on two occasions in Brazil pre-import, ran a disappointing race on local debut this month.

The pair will also need to overcome middling draws, however, with Crimson Flash in stall seven and Winfield breaking from stall eight.

“Crimson Flash hasn’t had much luck at his last couple of starts. It would be nice if he can just settle – I’ve taken the blinkers off him and he’ll just run in the cheek pieces,” said Newnham.

“He had a mile trial last week and he’ll need a soft run to see it out strongly, but he’s a horse of good ability and he shouldn’t be underestimated.

“Winfield has got it to prove in Hong Kong. I’ve been pleased with some of his trials and he hadn’t run for 14 months before his local debut.

“He was always going to need the outing but he still needs to improve – I think he’s probably another race or two from showing his true form.”