TITLE-chasing Tony Cruz is hungry for winners and has given punters a reasonable guide in the featured Queen's Silver Jubilee Challenge Cup at Happy Valley tonight by opting for topweight Best One. You don't win races, or titles, by making mistakes and Cruz clearly believes that the Gary Ng Ting-keung galloper is right back to his best form - and can take this 1,800-metre Class Two event despite a sharp rise of 10 pounds since his last winning run for the local idol. Best One can win the silverware - but it certainly won't be easy. Cruz has discarded Amazing Grace, a reliable type but possibly not a weight-carrier, for Best One and Irish champion Mick Kinane - also hungry for more success as his Hongkong stint draws to a close - takes over. Amazing Grace drops two pounds from his last equitrack outing but a cutback in distance might be of less benefit to the Wong Tang-ping galloper. With Cruz in the saddle, Amazing Grace was nailed in the final couple of strides by the John Marshall-ridden Sagar over 2,100 metres on the same course last time. The weight and the distance may have combined to bring about his undoing - plus a driving, resolute ride from Marshall. But whether 1,800 metres is the answer remains to be seen - but Amazing Grace can be assured of getting a real ride. ''I was asked to ride him and I am pleased to be on him. I have seen Amazing Grace run, of course, and he looks a reliable stayer. I would think, too, like most of them he won't object to being back on the grass,'' he said. Best One has certainly struck form once again. He forged his way up through the classes last season coming from the bottom end of Class Four to the top of Class Two and he may well be at his mark. But he did score most impressively for Cruz last time. And he held his form in exemplary fashion last season once really striking it. The gamble here is the weight allied to the distance, but the manner in which he came right away from them last time suggests he will be well placed over this trip at the Valley. Star Of Pakistan gets some relief in the weights after lumping 140 pounds round last time and failing on the equitrack behind Sagar. He is also reunited with Gerald Mosse who was in the stands last time out when Eric Legrix rode the six-year-old. Star Of Pakistan seemed to relish his winning outing on equitrack for Mosse, two starts back, and has mixed it with the very best before this. He will be in tip-top shape for the Cup event and a win would certainly please Biancone, locked as he is in battle with John Moore, Lawrie Fownes and David Hill for this year's title. The Bruce Hutchison-trained Sagar remains a most interesting runner. His trainer struck at the Easter Monday meeting with Pretty Long Legs and rider John Marshall has been in top form. He plundered the Centurion Trophy on a chance ride last Saturday and the Silver Jubilee Cup would look good on the sideboard. But Sagar, too, must come back in distance and he looks as if he appreciated every centimetre of the 2,230 metres he ran over last time. Marshall says: ''It did take time to really get him going and I did not think we were going to win it at the turn. But that was on equitrack and it can be deceptive. ''On the grass I think he should be able to handle the 1,800 metres but then it will also suit a couple of others, particularly Star Of Pakistan.'' Icy Bet was the medium of a minor plunge earlier in the season when with Lawrie Fownes but has now shifted to Peter Ng Bik-kuen who legs up visiting international rider Greg Childs tonight. The Icelandic four-year-old has markedly picked up in his work recently and should be the medium of some support but he will still have to be taken on trust. Strictly on form, he has not shown enough to be considered a major threat to the likely principals such as Star Of Pakistan, Sagar and Best One. Trainer Wong Tang-ping also has Prince Igor involved in the race and on his best form, would represent a chance. Basil Marcus is once again on the seven-year-old who has won course and distance in the past. But his overall best efforts have tended to be at Sha Tin where the much longer straight facilitates his long, raking finish from well back in the field. It looks fairly certain that the punting public will side with Cruz but they might be disappointed - both Star Of Pakistan and Sagar can be expected to fully extend the topweight. And it could well be Frenchmen Biancone and Mosse who end up with the impressive Queen's Silver Jubilee Challenge Cup . . . . republicans though they may be.
