Caspar Fownes is in the box seat for a fifth trainers’ premiership, but he has been around long enough not to salute before the winning post.
There are 29 races left across the final three meetings and Fownes sits on 66 wins, five clear of Danny Shum Chap-shing and six ahead of Mark Newnham.
The title is still alive on paper, but Shum and Newnham are running out of room. Shum needs to out win Fownes by six from here to go past him, while Newnham needs a six-win swing to force a countback and seven to win it outright.
None of the three title contenders struck at Sha Tin on Saturday, but Fownes heads to Happy Valley with eight runners and, as he recently told The Standard, still some “bullets left” to fire.
“I don’t want to be going off early because I’ve seen enough in this game where things can happen and that would be horrible, but I think tomorrow night should really paint a picture of what’s going on,” Fownes said. “And back to the Valley is going to be a bit of fun for us.
“Mathematically, they’ve still got a hope, you know. They need 20 per cent without me running a winner, basically. They need to win 20 per cent of all remaining races.”
Four of Fownes’ eight — Charming Legend, Jumbo Blessing, Forza Toro and Quartz Legend — have yet to add to his tally this season, but he says all are capable of playing their part in the run home.
“Forza Toro and Jumbo Blessing are both horses ready to win. Absolutely they are. And Charming Legend, he’s coming off a nice effort last start running second, and Quartz Legend, well, I don’t want it wet for him, so if it’s a normal sort of track, he can run well too.”
Fownes is also well represented late on the card, with three-time course-and-distance winner Joy Of Spring contesting the Class 2 over 1,800 meters before Target Audience chases a third win from four starts this season in the finale.
Target Audience is also out to keep his perfect Happy Valley record intact after winning comfortably by nearly two lengths at his first look at the city track last start.
“You know, they’re all in good form. They’ll be running well and close, but it’s just so competitive and the races are tough,” he said. “I’ll have enough runners in the last few meetings to be well represented; that’s the important thing. Certainly on the last day all my runners should be getting in, so we’ve got enough there to give us a chance to continue fighting.”
