David Eustace believes the step up in distance could be the key to Colourful King’s chances in the Class Two Wan Chai Gap Handicap (1,200m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

The Blue Point gelding has stuck to the minimum 1,000m trip in four Hong Kong starts, building on a promising Sha Tin debut with a pair of city circuit wins.

He quickened up smartly in a pair of Class Three races, winning the latter Hong Kong China Rugby Club Handicap by an impressive two lengths.

After travelling well in midfield, Colourful King sprinted powerfully to mow down the long-time leader Youthful Spirits and was going away at the line.

That would suggest Wednesday’s extra 200m would be ideal, despite Eustace having reservations about it previously.

“I think the distance will be fine – we probably wouldn’t have said that a couple of starts back, but I thought his last run showed he would appreciate it and his trial was similar,” said Eustace.

Colourful King will take on the likes of last-start winners Horsepower, Kaholo Angel, Stellar Express and Harmony N Blessed in a fiercely competitive feature contest to round off the card.

The three-year-old won two 1,000m races pre-import and Eustace thinks the best is yet to come ahead of his fifth local start.

“He’s relaxing better all the time and has a good draw [barrier four], but it’s a tough race. He’s trained on well so I’m hopeful,” Eustace said.

Eustace has seven chances on the Valley programme, with his other big contender being Midori Fuji in the Class Four Shouson Hill Handicap (1,650m).

He is yet to salute in eight local starts but has gone agonizingly close at the course and distance in his past two runs, losing out by a short head on both occasions.

Eustace also has high hopes for Saturday’s impressive Class Four Tin Sam Handicap (1,400m) winner Dazzling Fit, who doubled his career tally in style at Sha Tin.

The son of Ribchester was settled in midfield by Luke Ferraris, sauntering into contention as the field turned into the home straight.

It briefly looked as though the pair were running into traffic problems, but Ferraris angled out at the 400m and when he asked for maximum effort, the response was immediate with a sharp turn of foot carrying Dazzling Fit to the front 150m from home.

While he still looks green, Dazzling Fit has plenty of scope for further improvement and Eustace believes he will be a horse to watch as a four-year-old – though he may not be done racing this season.

“It was good to see him do it again, he was carrying weight in a Class Four as a three-year so it was a good effort,” said Eustace.

“He put them away nicely and has pulled up great. I’m not honestly sure if he will run again this season – I’m leaning that way and he’s come through that race as well as he could have done.

“I hope he’s an exciting one for next season.”

Eustace – who was Australia’s leading trainer in partnership with Ciaron Maher in 2022-23 – has enjoyed a successful first season of training in Hong Kong with 29 winners.