Courage Star is hard to get away from as banker material in the middle pin to tomorrow night's Happy Valley Triple Trio. The Peter Ho-trained improver was desperately unlucky at Sha Tin last Wednesday night when pocketed for much of the home straight. With a clear run, he might well have defeated eventual winner El Viento and, at worst, would surely have run second instead of a luckless fourth. Tomorrow night he jumps from barrier four and should get a decent run behind the speed. He has thrived with each and every run since winning in griffin company and the move to a mile is probably in his favour too. The brilliant Irish jockey Kieren Fallon, well on his way to becoming the first jockey in Britain since the legendary Sir Gordon Richards to ride three consecutive double centuries, always thought Courage Star would develop into a miler when he rode him as a griffin. The Valley is probably the main concern but then Courage Star is blessed with the natural speed and the decent gate for that to be much less of a worry than with other youngsters tackling the tricky city venue. Willie Way should also run a cracker in this Class Two contest. He had a tough time of it up on the speed and did well to box on to finish so close, albeit unplaced. He was also ridden on the inside down the straight in the race won by Wonderful Winners, who came from off that fierce tempo, and the ground was almost certainly slower next to the far rail. All in all it was a decent effort from Willie Way and bodes well for his performance tomorrow night. Astimonti has come back to form and he could be a danger to stablemate Courage Star. English jockey Alan Munro is an eye-catching booking too and it was Munro who was on board when Astimonti, then trained by John Moore, did the business for his connections in the 1998 Sha Tin Vase. Indy's Gem, who likes the Valley mile, could be best of the others. All Satisfy has pretty consistent form and looked as if he would be winning soon when chasing home the well handicapped and brilliant worker Beauty Fountain at Sha Tin, also last Wednesday night. He could be the best banker in the Class Three third event over a mile which opens the TT. All Win is another potential banker in this race. He almost certainly needed his reappearance, as so many of trainer John Moore's do, and his Topspeed figures from last season make him the one to beat. The Greatest has thrived under Bruce Hutchison's care and could be the best of the rest. He's racing better than at any stage of his career, shaped promisingly on his reappearance and goes well at the Valley. Pure Reality from barrier three could be the one to latch on to in the Class Four sixth event over the minimum 1,000 metres which closes the TT. So often the leaders are the ones to be on in these Valley dashes and Pure Reality should be either leading or trailing the leader on the rails. That run could be enough to see him hold down a tierce spot. Sharp Shooter is very fast and will make a bold attempt to cross and lead from barrier eight. Mascot looks a likely type for this kind of race and has drawn the paint. He has to be included in the TT but is not suggested as a banker as he might just miss the start and get shuffled back from barrier one. Increase Speed and Master Merlin are other obvious form chances but can't be put up as bankers because of their wide draws and their tendencies to hang out. Sounds Good comes into this off the back of a decent trial.
