DEBONAIR (2-1) gave a dazzling exhibition of speed and determination to win the featured Po Leung Kuk Centenary Cup at Happy Valley yesterday and stamp himself as the territory's heir apparent to sprinting glory. The David Hill-trained four-year-old also kept his 100 per cent record with four wins from just four starts and the way he's going that record could be maintained for some time yet. Debonair absolutely shattered a Classes One and Two field over the minimum trip of 975 metres and delighted both trainer David Hill and jockey John Marshall. The Australian rider said: 'He's a real handful but that is the way the best ones are. He is a real racehorse and he is going to be very, very good if all goes well.' Debonair had a length and a quarter to spare over Parkview Fame (7-2), who could only despairingly chase him home, and topweight All-Winners (8-1) who tried desperately to get on terms but failed. Darryll Holland, rider of the Ivan Allan-trained All-Winners, commented: 'I thought my horse was very good but we simply never saw the way Debonair went. That is a real horse.' Debonair simply blazed from the stalls and headed off Parkview Fame, who was on his inside but just could not muster the speed, and All Winners, drawn next to him. Marshall looked around to be sure he was clear - as he was - and eased Debonair over to the rails. From that point on it was a galloping lesson in sheer speed and endeavour. Debonair has shown a tendency in the past to loaf a bit when he feels he has the job done and he may well have done that yesterday because Marshall was not prepared to hit him with the whip as the job was so obviously well done. 'I don't think the time or the margin of victory are important. He has now come out of this race as a very good winner and I am delighted about that,' Hill said. 'He is a horse who causes me a few worries. He is big and has a mind of his own but he is a racehorse and he showed that again today. I want to check him out very thoroughly after this and then we will see what to do with him.' The former champion trainer, however, is keen to get a run into Debonair again sometime in January before aiming for the final two legs of the Sprint Championship. The first of those is the Centenary Cup at Sha Tin on March 4 and then there's the annual Chairman's Prize at the same venue on May 7. One is over 1,000 metres, which is meat and drink to Debonair, and the other over 1,200 metres. 'We do have options with him because he has now shown himself to be so versatile. He can run at both courses and over 1,000 metres to the longer sprint here at the Valley,' Hill said. Debonair has had some tendon problems in the past and Hill has been extremely patient with him. There was little to be said for those who finished adrift of the new star. Parkview Fame, as expected, ran a good race but could not get to Debonair, All-Winners gave what he had - and the rest might as well have been in Race Seven rather than Race Six for all the difference they were likely to make to the result. Meanwhile, Australian rider Darren Gauci's good season continued with Financial Fortune (7-1) obliging in the Class Four, 1,650-metre seventh event on the card. The hard-fought victory brought an ear-to-ear smile from trainer Peter Tse Yan-sid who is a perennial battler at the other end of the championship table but has now saddled up four winners for the season. 'The horse has been working well for us since his last run and I thought that if he ran as well as he did earlier in the season he would go very close,' Tse said. The big disappointment of the race was 5-2 favourite Plenty Cash. Gerald Mosse had him out and running well enough behind pacesetter Applause (6-1) but the Lawrie Fownes-trained four-year-old found absolutely nothing when the Frenchman went desperately for him. Amazing Win (9-2) followed up on his last disappointing Sha Tin run with an equally disappointing effort but Golden Luck (14-1) ran a more encouraging race for third with Applause holding on gamely to take second spot. English ace Darryll Holland, due to start a new career back home next season with Mark Johnston, kept his Hong Kong run sweetly going with his 15th winner of the season when topweight Dolphin (5-2 favourite) easily won the second event.
