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Champion King set to reign again

John Bell

Promising Champion King had his winning sequence broken only through misfortune last start and despite a rise in class he should bounce back to his best in the final leg of tomorrow night's Triple Trio at Happy Valley.

With the last Happy Valley TT only partially won, the prize on offer is expected to reach HK$5 million and Champion King looks a standout banker even against some highly promising types.

The Monolith four-year-old resumed from an injury-enforced spell on October 15 and won in effortless fashion after leading all the way before scoring an every-chance victory at his next appearance five weeks later.

The Peter Ho Leung-trained gelding then had his colours lowered by the promising Grand Cru but his effort to be beaten by only a short head after racing three wide outside the speed was outstanding.

With the rise in class, Champion King gets a 14-pound drop in weight and looks set to get an easy run on the back of the speed under Douglas Whyte. He should be able to add to the impressive statistics of the jockey-trainer combination.

Whyte has ridden only 17 horses for Ho this season but has landed six winners and a further five second placings.

The toughest to beat will be the promising Sunny King, who made a very good impression when making his debut on December 23.

The Desert Sun gelding, a five-time winner in England, settled back in the field off a fast pace but lengthened nicely in the straight to be beaten just over a length by the speedy Adaikali.

The John Moore-trained four-year-old should be greatly improved by the outing. He will appreciate a rise in distance and should be right in the finish.

Silver Sun also looks placed to advantage from an inside alley and has to be rated highly, while Multi Millions looks the other main contender.

Socrates has been in great form this season but faces his moment of truth up against some quality opposition and doesn't look quite as well placed with a slight drop in distance.

The opening leg looks wide open but Feburo, who takes a rise in class, could be a good value banker.

The Paul O'Sullivan-trained gelding looked a different horse last time when stepped up to 2,200 metres for the first time, drawing away to open his winning account in fine style.

Although he will find this significantly harder, he will appreciate a drop in weight given that he is only a small horse and the engagement of Felix Coetzee is another big positive.

His main danger will be last-start winner One Eye Jack, another taking a class rise, while other worthy inclusions are Elfhelm, Meath, Brown Beauty and Silver Mark, despite an awkward draw.

When looking for a banker in the middle pin it's hard to go past Don Ricardo, who should get every chance under Whyte from gate two.

The John Size-trained gelding has taken time to find form this season but his last-start performance when narrowly beaten in a three-way photo finish indicated his winning turn was very near.

He won't find this any tougher and should prove a bit too classy for his rivals, with his main danger likely to come from the honest Circular Machine.

The Danny Shum Chap-shing-trained gelding has been racing well over this course and distance and will find this more suitable than his last start, when a very slow speed played against him and he ran fifth behind Conestoga.

Others entitled to consideration are the in-form Toy Quest and Triumph, while Fortune Boy is likely to be the big improver after drawing the prized inside barrier.

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