Marcus takes his Chance and goes on to a treble

WINNING Chance won like a class horse in the making as champion jockey Basil Marcus took riding honours with a 35-1 treble at Sha Tin yesterday.

The feature win of the treble came from Fortune Leader in the $1.35 million Sha Tin Trophy but Winning Chance was the eye catcher.

The Alex Wong Yu-on-trained three-year-old came into yesterday's first race with a huge reputation having bolted home in a very fast time down the straight 1,000 metres in his only start as a griffin.

He was backed down to 7-5 favouritism and duly justified every cent wagered, powering away to win by an impressive 33/4 lengths from First Touch who just caught Aquarius close to home for second.

Marcus said after racing: ''I was impressed by him and think he's a real nice horse. The way he won today, he gave me the impression that he would stay a mile but it can be a bit deceiving with these young horses.

''When he gets to know more about things and snaps hard on to the bridle straight away in his races he may travel more keenly.'' Winning Chance had shown plenty of inexperience in his work leading up to yesterday's opening event and Marcus agreed. ''He's been quite green in his work in the mornings and should improve for the run and the experience.

''All I was trying to do early on today was to get him into a position where he would enjoy a smooth passage. He's still learning but he actually raced less greenly than he has worked with me.'' After Marcus had completed his double with David Hill's Fortune Leader in the big race, he made it three with a typically tenacious display on Ivan Allan's Sterling Town in the last.