Peter Ho Leung's talented youngster Archippus can overcome a wide draw and act as banker when he steps up to 1,400m at his second start in the middle leg of Sunday's Triple Trio at Sha Tin.
Archippus was sent out 2.4 favourite on debut, after an outstanding trial in blinkers, and even though his inexperience showed up the straight he still eked out a dead-heat victory with Pure Force.
Pure Force franked the form on Sunday with a game short-head second and Archippus can cope with the same six-point rise in the ratings in the Nam Kok Handicap.
A solid Happy Valley barrier trial over 1,200m where the three-year-old relaxed nicely in behind the speed and was never tested has kept him ticking over.
Zac Purton has retained the ride, and he looks likely to settle in the back half of the field and hope for some speed up front - which he could get. One concern is the "C + 3" rail position, the widest position, which conventional wisdom says delivers a huge disadvantage to those drawn wide. The statistics don't read too badly for those drawn wide over 1,400m though, and the expected genuine tempo should negate any fears.
Trainer Dennis Yip Chor-hong has booked apprentice Alvin Ng Ka-chun for K-Moochi, and he will make the running, while Lucky Day (Matthew Chadwick) could slide over from barrier 12 and challenge. Medic Kingdom (Vincent Ho Chak-yiu) should park around the first four as well.
Medic Kingdom goes in, as he has been well supported and has ran well in each of his Class Four starts leading into this, all over Saturday's 1,400m trip. Amazing Always (Karis Teetan) and Silver Dragon (Joao Moreira) are the other options.
In the opening leg, a Class Four over 1,200m on the dirt, consider a double banker with Michael Chang Chun-wai's Linmania (Olivier Doleuze) and Joy Together (Purton), another from the Yip yard.
Statistics suggest that being drawn low over 1,200m isn't necessarily an advantage on the all-weather track, but from gates one and two respectively, Linmania and Joy Together should be in the firing line all the way against a field that falls away quickly.
Linmania went into his last start debut after some impressive trials, but finished last when in the betting - a result that doesn't look good on paper, but there were excuses.
The four-year-old was trapped in the middle part of the straight track throughout, which is quicksand at the moment. A nice 1,050m trial win on the dirt leading into this shows he can go on the surface.
There's no such guide for Joy Together - he hasn't trialled on the dirt, but he has been consistent on the grass, with three straight placings. Of the others, Maroon Prince (Neil Callan) fared badly at the draw, but is bound to win his way out of Class Four, and Star Of Wai Bo (Moreira) has to go in.
The final leg is a tricky 1,800m Class Four, where three main hopes look hard to separate: Activism (Teetan), Super Strike (Tye Angland) and Hei Hei Posh (Moreira).
Take that trio along with one or two of Travel Smart (Douglas Whyte), Panther Run (Ho) or Malayan Pearl (Umberto Rispoli).
