Three the magic number for Fownes as he lands treble and rare tierce

Trainer Caspar Fownes reaffirmed his status as the King Of The Valley last night with a winning treble and a rare stable tierce after giving a simple set of instructions to all his riders - find the fence.

'With a C rail, I just told all my jockeys tonight to get to the rail. After that, they can play it by ear but the rail is gold on these nights whether you're up the front or out the back,' said Fownes, whose close knowledge of the quirky city track has seen him without peer there in recent seasons.

The rewards came last night with wins by Famagusta and Viva Fighter under Brett Prebble and Brilliant Flash for Olivier Doleuze, and Fownes had the added pleasure of saddling up the two horses which chased home Viva Fighter in the Kwun Tong Handicap (1,650m), Money Man and I'm No Square.

'How the luck has changed in a week - it isn't that long since I was in a drought and now the luck has changed and it's raining winners,' said Fownes.

'The tierce result was nice, I thought they all had a great show and while Viva Fighter was the winner tonight, Money Man and I'm No Square both showed that they are close to winning again. Olivier actually thought he was a bit unlucky on I'm No Square as he got squeezed for running in the straight.

'But Brett's ride on Viva Fighter was the key to him winning. He drew gate 10, but Brett does it brilliantly here from the wide gates, ducking over behind them then getting up the fence. He did it last week on Noble Conqueror and just failed, but with a bit of speed on Viva Fighter was able to convert that ride into a win.'

Early winner Famagusta has now won two of three starts and neither Fownes nor Prebble was surprised that he was able to take a box seat position behind the leader from a better draw last night after getting back in his first two starts.