In the opening race on Sunday, Hugh Bowman produced the ride of the afternoon without getting the prize on heavily-backed Archer's Bow but the performance indicated a maiden victory in the cellar grade is very near for the five-year-old, who will also pay his bills in Class Four.
Having his first run for 11 months, Archer's Bow was presented with a nasty outside draw but Bowman went back and across early, threading through near the rail in a smart ride that deserved a happy outcome.
Archer's Bow turned for home two lengths behind Elegant Frames, then looked the winner coming off his back in the last 200m, but just ran out of puff and finished third to two race-fit rivals, beaten less than a length.
As Class Fives go, this is solid, with the first three coming clear and a wide spread of margins to fifth and sixth. Although Archer's Bow looked well-prepped at his first run under trainer Benno Yung Tin-pang, this should clear the rust for next time.
Elsewhere on the card, the most obvious blackbookers came in race six, with the effort of Brilliant Dream perhaps underrated in holding off fellow three-year-old Star Track and both have nice futures.
Brilliant Dream never got on the track from gate 13 and faced the breeze wide all the way, giving cover to debutant Star Track sitting wide behind him.
He kept going bravely to defy Paul O'Sullivan's newcomer and Brilliant Dream fans probably shouldn't be too quick to concede the result when the two next meet.
In his first appearance in this space, Brilliant Dream had made his debut in the same race as Gun Pit and they had run similar races. Gun Pit went to a significantly higher level at Happy Valley last week, but he has had more racing, and Brilliant Dream looks a horse who will improve with experience too.
O'Sullivan's poor winning record with racecourse debutants was sitting out there as a big handicap for Star Track before the event despite his very nice barrier trials but, now that he has had a start, that record only gives more encouragement that the handsome chestnut will improve quickly with racing.
