All pointing to Wonderful Time

WONDERFUL Time can get Felix Coetzee and his trainer Brian Kan Ping-chee back among the winners by taking the fourth event on this afternoon's Sha Tin card.

Coetzee, one of the finest riders South Africa has produced, has found success thin on the ground in recent meetings.

Against this background, he will be hungrier than most in Wonderful Time's Class Two handicap against 12 rivals.

Wonderful Time has just got better and better with each run since arriving from England, continuing the trend of his form before export.

He was a very progressive sort when trained by David Elsworth to simply run away with a two-year-old handicap over 1,200 metres at the northern course of Pontefract.

Ponte's 1,200 metres is one of the stiffest in the country, climbing all the way to the post. Wonderful Time clearly appreciated that testing course as a two-year-old and had earlier stayed 1,400 metres in a good juvenile handicap at Ascot.

The Ascot race habitually works out very well, throwing up plenty of winners during the following season.

Wonderful Time looks to be one of them, particularly as Kan now sends him out over a mile.

Wonderful Time's last two efforts have both been over 1,400 metres and were highly creditable runs.

He was only just pipped by Lucky Sound on the first of these, going down by a mere head after battling gamely to the post.

He was then beaten more comfortably by Winning Partners but Neville Begg's four-year-old is destined for a bright future in Class One.

In the circumstances it was no disgrace to be headed by 21/4 lengths in that one, with the rest of the field well beaten.

Today's event looks easier and the move up in distance should help. Wonderful Time's two-year-old form points to him showing his best over a mile, his style of running does and so, too, does his breeding as he is Midyan out of an Ile De Bourbon mare.

Midyan was a very useful performer from 1,400 metres to a mile, only just outside the top bracket of his generation.

Ile De Bourbon was a brilliant stayer, winning the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes over 2,400 metres.

For the quinella it may pay to keep Timah safe as he has excellent course and distance form and has raced with great consistency this season.

All Thrills is very much on the upgrade and could run into a place along with Gun Sin now that it appears he needs farther than sprint distances.

Of the others, Insider is preferred to Scandalmonger. Insider is another who has made tremendous progress since moving to Ivan Allan.

Scandalmonger had very good form in England but is taking time to acclimatise.

Jewellery Star was helped by the very fast pace over 1,200 metres last time and has much more to do this afternoon. Oriental Sovereign is classy but unsound. He could come into it if the heavens opened - hence his better showing last time out.

Gary Ng Ting-keung can maintain his tremendous burst of training form by scoring with Exaltic in the Class Five sixth event over 1,200 metres.

Ng has worked overtime in the mornings with this veteran galloper, having him out on the inside really late on as he tries to boost his confidence.

He certainly looked to be going well enough in a recent barrier trial and, even with 139 pounds, should be very hard to beat.

He was considerably better than these in the past and Ng appears to be getting him back to his former self.

It may be worth throwing Lawrie Fownes' ageing All That Jazz into the quinella in this event. This 10-year-old horse impressed in a recent trial and should be at big odds.

The other main chances appear to be the in-form Double Delight, Kan's Lucky Gems and the John Moore pair of Golden Computer and Khazana.