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With a solid Happy Valley run under his belt, smart Plenty-Plenty should take all the beating in the featured Hong Kong Country Club Challenge Cup at Sha Tin's mixed meeting today.

 Former champion trainer Ivan Allan is not one to rush things and, as usual, he has taken time to get his horses moving into top gear.

 But a couple of recent winners suggests that the trickle will become a more steady flow and Plenty-Plenty does look a top chance in this trophy event.

 When he finished a game second to Mission Sealed at Happy Valley recently, Plenty-Plenty looked for all the world like a horse who really needed the run.

 His ability, and there is plenty of that, saw him through, but his lack of racing hardness left him exposed in the finish.

 In the circumstances it was a first-class effort and, of course, it is no fluke that he is now in action again 10 days later in an important trophy race.

 The Sha Tin longer sprint would be a preferred trip for Plenty-Plenty over the Happy Valley version and the only real drawback here is the fact that he has drawn outside in barrier 10.

 Obviously, it is not a fatal detraction from his chances, but an inside draw would have made him a doubly attractive proposition.

 Plenty-Plenty had a couple of useful horses behind him at the Valley and as he is certain to take natural improvement out of that run, his chances today are high.

 Beas Glory, who finished three-parts of a length off Plenty-Plenty in the Happy Valley race, will also come in for support today and there is no reason why he will not have also improved from his first-up outing.

 There is little in the weight to say that Plenty-Plenty would not confirm form with Beas Glory, who will again have Eric Legrix in the saddle, and the Gary Ng Ting-leung sprinter has fared badly at the draw.

 It will be difficult for him to turn the form around, but Beas Glory remains a tierce chance in this 14-runner cup race.

 The big danger to Plenty-Plenty should be Fairy King Prawn who is a very promising individual on what has been seen to date.

 There was some smart money for Fairy King Prawn when he battled with the resolute Cheers Win, from the David Hayes stable, in his lone griffin run last season.

 That resulted in a short-head victory over a very good type with almost six lengths back to Par Excellence, who is no slouch either.

 Obviously, in Classes One and Two, Fairy King Prawn is really mixing it but there is no doubting his ability.

 What can be in doubt is just how fit and hard he is for this event.

 Given the really solid run put in by Plenty-Plenty, it has to be suggested that today the Allan-trained horse will have the edge.

 What might happen in future meetings between the two could well be a different matter.

 Hayes saddles up reliable William's Surpass who does not rate as a real winning chance but is definitely quinella and tierce material.

 He has drawn well with Basil Marcus aboard and it will be a surprise if plenty is not seen of William's Surpass.

 An improver on last season is Marquee Universal who has drawn against the rails.

 Again, it is difficult to tout his winning chances on the score of fitness but it can be virtually guaranteed that whatever he does in today's trophy race, he will substantially improve upon later.

 It is difficult to get enthusiastic about the chances of any of the rest.

 Bottomweight Triple Expresso seems to be fairly harshly treated and topweight Grandstand looks right up to his mark. Happy Forever is not hopeless and Fukien Boy could put in some sort of a race but is usually better down the straight 1,000 metres.



There's Plenty for everyone