Emerging galloper Copartner Prance showed fighting qualities to extend his sequence of consecutive wins to four in the Class Three Seine Handicap (1,200m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

Sent off the $2.8 favourite after a hat-trick at the city circuit, the Francis Lui Kin-wai-trained gelding dug deep to reel in the pacesetter California Touch to once again prevail under Zac Purton.

He collared $3.9 second favourite California Touch in the final stages to score by a head, with Solar Partner beaten two lengths in third.

Copartner Prance’s thrilling triumph also helped Lui reduce Pierre Ng Pang-chi’s lead to three in their tense battle for the trainers’ premiership.

“He’s a nice and honest horse. He chases and keeps going,” Lui said of Copartner Prance.

“I thought he was beaten because he was carrying a big weight [132 pounds] this time, but he’s a good horse. Maybe he can go to Sha Tin, but it all depends on the best programme for him.”

Purton was also full of praise for Copartner Prance after maintaining his perfect record on the son of Epaulette.

“Very brave to carry the weight, the pace was on all of the way which actually helped him a little bit,” Purton said.

“He couldn’t sprint quickly under the weight tonight, he needed to build up. The fast speed with the leader taking off allowed him to get through his gears and get out after him and chase him.

“It took him all of the way but he got there on the line. The horse has done a good job.”

Purton sealed a double after earlier guiding To Infinity to one of the biggest wins of the season in the Class Five Rhone Handicap (1,650m).

Relishing a hot speed in the early and middle stages of the race, the Jamie Richards-trained gelding stormed home to win by a whopping five and a half lengths.

“He just got things to suit him strongly,” Richards said. “There was plenty of pressure and when he gets the right tempo in the first half of the race, he’s a good, honest sort of horse.

“He’s not the best horse in the world, but he’s consistent and he tries hard and he’s a pleasure to have in the stable.”

Elsewhere, Caspar Fownes produced an outstanding training feat when Camino made a victorious return from a tendon injury in the Class Four Rhine Handicap (1,000m).

The son of Charm Spirit ran on powerfully from near last under Vincent Ho Chak-yiu to beat the Richards-trained Ma Comet by half a length.

According to former Post racing editor Alan Aitken, Camino’s first-up win off 357 days has only been surpassed by Shibala (562 days) and Entrapment (461) in the past 20 years in Hong Kong.

“It’s extremely satisfying when you have a horse that’s out for nearly a year with a tendon injury,” Fownes said.

“We took our time with him to bring him back and then he had a splint as well, so we’ve been behind the black ball the whole way through.

“We thought he’d run a cheeky race because he’s fresh and had a nice gate [barrier one], even though he couldn’t use it because they were humming along.”

Luke Ferraris ended his frustrating winless streak at 72 rides when he booted home Mark Newnham’s Setanta in the first section of the Class Four Ciron Handicap (1,650m). It was the South African rider’s first victory since March 20.

“The support dropped off terribly midway through the season,” Ferraris said.

“A few trainers I thought I would get a lot more rides for, I just haven’t had a ride for. Big thanks to Mark, he’s supported me for the whole season and it’s good to reward him.”