A crop of talented young horses, building on impressive last-start wins, takes centre stage at Sha Tin on Sunday (15 March) with Frankie Lor’s four-year-old Smart Golf, now 17 points advanced from his starting mark, leading the way.

The Australian-bred gelding powered to a second win of the season (from four starts) at Sha Tin three weeks ago, prevailing by two and a quarter lengths, carrying top weight in a Class 4 1200m contest.

For that effort, the handicapper awarded him nine rating points and a promotion to Class 3, in which he steps out for the first time in Sunday’s Kowloon City Handicap (1200m). Rider Harry Bentley, though, is confident that Smart Golf (124lb) can handle both the rise in class and barrier 10.

“That wider barrier makes things a little bit more difficult,” Bentley said. “But he shows good gate speed early on, and that should be able to get us into a nice position. If we were in a similar place to last time, I’d be more than happy. Up into Class 3 is that bit more of a challenge, but he’s carrying less weight, so I think he’s up to it.”

Bentley believes there’s more to come from the son of Needs Further if his racing manners continue to improve.

“He still has a bit of a tendency to run around a little bit in front or just prick his ears. So, that should mean there’s a little bit more left in the tank,” Bentley added.

Another runner who has shown considerable potential in his nascent career is Francis Lui-trained Turquoise Velocity (121lb). With Keith Yeung aboard, the four-year-old Australian-bred has saluted twice this season from three runs.

Yeung, who has partnered the son of Zoustar in both his wins to date, is a big admirer of his talent going into Sunday’s Class 3 Lok Sin Tong Cup Handicap (1000m).

“I’ve liked him since day one and he’s always shown us good ability and so it was nice to get his first and his last win,” Yeung said.

“The horses he’s beaten – a couple of them have won again already, so that makes him look even better. He’s progressing well. I’ve been working him daily, and I’m really happy with his form. He’s a genuine, kind horse to ride too,” he added.

Turquoise Velocity’s wins, both over 1000m at Sha Tin, bookend a disappointing 11th-place finish in January when, as favourite, he trailed home 10 lengths behind the victor. But Yeung said there were excuses for that run.

“The second run was because he had top weight, and sometimes younger horses need time to adapt to that,” he said. “So, last race we put him in a Class 3 and took the weight off so that he could show himself once again.”

Following a fast-finishing debut win on February’s Year of the Horse Raceday, all eyes will be on Caspar Fownes trainee Papaya Brose (135lb) in the Class 4 Lung Kong Handicap (1400m). The emphatic nature of his victory at 20/1 stunned most in attendance, except for rider Hugh Bowman.

“I did trial him in the lead-up to that run on the All Weather Track,” Bowman said. “He didn’t enjoy the kickback on his face, but I asked him for a little bit of effort, and he showed me that he was going to run well. Now, I didn’t really expect him to let down quite like he did – that was a lovely surprise.”

“He got into a lovely rhythm, and that allowed him to let down the way he did. When a horse does that on their first outing, it’s always very encouraging,” he added.

Sunday’s (15 March) 11-race fixture at Sha Tin starts at 12.30pm with the Class 5 Sa Po Handicap (1650m, dirt).