Monopoly Senior can play a leading hand
Monopoly Senior can run his rivals ragged and justify banker status in the first leg of tomorrow's Triple Trio on the Sha Tin dirt.
The Gary Ng Ting-keung-trained galloper is potentially well handicapped on any number of sprint runs from last season and showed signs of a return to form last time out.
But what is most significant is the Class Five company he is now facing.
This looks by far the easiest company that he's faced for some time and the leading apprentice, Eddie Lai, takes a handy five pounds from his back.
Nor is it as if Lai has got to come up with any brilliant tactical moves in this 1,150-metre dash.
Fortune Winner has very good basic speed and could well come into this, as may Woods Venture and Gold Fortune.
But it is Fighting Strike, who should be finishing strongly, who is probably the other main TT contender in this third event.
Fighting Strike is another who has slipped to a very attractive mark and while trainer Alex Wong Siu-tan has had only an ordinary season, his horses have been running reasonably well of late.
Multiple champion jockey Basil Marcus teams up with Wong Siu-tan in the fourth event of the evening on Race To Honour, who ran really well on the dirt earlier in the season. Marcus appears to have picked up another top ride as Race To Honour ran really well for a long way on his first start back from a spell until lack of hard racing condition told at the Valley recently.
Bounty has such a good record on artificial tracks that he must come into the reckoning.
Lucky Glory looks to be on a very competitive handicap mark.
Mabrouk appears to be right on the top of his game, like so many of the David Oughton stable, and could well finish late and hard into the placings.
Lyphard's Lad has adapted so well to racing on the dirt, with two wins from two outings, that he is surely one of the better chances in the sixth event, which concludes the TT, despite a sharp rise in the ratings.
Recent form on the dirt counts so much and Lyphard's Lad is exactly that type of free-going horse to revel on the artificial track.
Po On Power is back down to a suitable Class Three affair and he should also be suited by the mile. On top of all that, there is the booking of a certain B. Marcus.
Best One is perhaps worth one last chance, especially as he ran better last time.
Midas King has very solid form credentials and is definitely worth including, along with Furioso, who works so well on the dirt.
