YOUNG galloper Top Performance has learned enough about the game to be a major threat in the second event at Sha Tin today and could well live up to his name and score.
Trainer Wong Tang-ping keeps faith with maximum claimer Simon H. K. Yim who was touched off in the last stride by equitrack-loving Gagne Vite at his last Valley start.
Gagne Vite's overall form this season has been something of a revelation and it reads well for Top Performance in relation to this modest Class Five longer sprint.
Top Performance is a Class Four horse competing on the prevailing overlap system so the 10 pounds from Yim does bring him down to a very competitive weight in this low grade - and Patrick Biancone's apprentice has been earning praise for some of his recent efforts.
He certainly did nothing wrong on Top Performance last time and it is noticeable that Yim is coming in for much more support.
This longer sprint does look fairly ideal for the New Zealand three-year-old who was setting the pace for much of the 1,400-metre equitrack dash and was only run out of it in the final stride.
Top Performance also ran a solid race for Yim over the short sprint at Happy Valley where he finished just under two lengths away third to The Sure Thing.