The opening leg of the Triple Trio at Happy Valley on Sunday is a rather moderate affair, but with such a lack of talent involved it may be highly advisable to stick with John Size's Chief's Fortune, who has looked a shade unlucky on his last couple of outings.
Two starts back, he was clearly disadvantaged by the sedate tempo and his effort in finishing fourth to Optic Chief was creditable. He followed that effort with a similar performance when flashing home to finish third behind Super Elite on a track that was rain-affected, which resulted in few horses making ground from back in the field. He leaves the impression he will relish Sunday's step up in trip to 2,200 metres and is holding his form better than most.
Time To Surf has raced only once this season, but it was a highly encouraging effort. He blundered the start, missing the break by several lengths, and was hard ridden all the way to finish third to Champion Ranger. While that effort was on the all-weather, he has run with merit on turf and should be included.
Time Honour is stepping back in trip from the 2,400 metres he faced on his final start of last season, when he put in his best effort so far to finish third behind Monza King. He has won at Happy Valley in the past and is certainly one for the shortlist.
Aqua Prince strikes much easier competition, and having made the frame on both attempts over course and distance is likely to be included on most tickets, while the booking of Douglas Whyte aboard Tremendous Way is worth noting.
Profit Treasure looks the logical banker in the middle pin following a fine effort on his last start when the blinkers were applied for the first time. The gear change brought an improved performance and he only narrowly failed to land the spoils when going down by three-quarters of a length to Country Dragon.
