AN intriguing battle looms in the first leg of the Double Trio on the Happy Valley equitrack tomorrow night where impressive Tim's Joy tackles Local Colour, a past master at scoring on the tricky surface.
Champion jockey Basil Marcus is on Tim's Joy, who could not have been more impressive when finishing third to Blazing Blade recently, while brilliant Australian rider Darren Beadman takes out Local Colour.
Although there are 10 runners involved, it looks very much a two-horse battle, although others involved do have solid equitrack form.
These are good early days for Beadman and trainer Neville Begg. They scored decisively with the brilliant Winning Partners on Sunday and were on target at this venue last week with speedster Shanghai Star.
But it may be that Tim's Joy, with the never-say-die Marcus up, could just have the edge - not least because of that excellent first-up run.
Tim's Joy was at big odds but came home strongly along the rails and looked a real threat until well-graded Blazing Blade stormed through in the centre.