Lyle Hewitson and championship-leading trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing will partner with three chances at Happy Valley on Wednesday, including Happy Shooter, Fantastic Fun and Winning Champion.

Shum currently sits on 56 wins for the season, two above the next highest placed trainer Caspar Fownes.

The in-form handler will be looking to continue his momentum after Romantic Warrior added the Triple Crown to his résumé on Sunday at Sha Tin with a 15th Group One victory in the Champions and Chater Cup (2,400m).

Happy Shooter leads the charge for the Hewitson and Shum combination in the first section of the Class Four Ciron Handicap (1,200m). While the Deep Field galloper has taken time to put it together on the track, he has proven his potential this season with a win and three second placings.

The four-year-old has also shown improvement in the barriers after an incident at Happy Valley last season saw him declared as ‘took no part’ when rearing and becoming cast in the gates after the start was effected.

“He’s in great form, he’s been progressively getting better in the starting gates because that’s where his issue was. He has always shown ability and although he’s only won one this season, I think all his runs have been pretty promising, barring maybe one or two only,” Hewitson said.

“He’s been very consistent and he deserves to pick up another one this season. We wanted to go back to the dirt again because he performed so well last time, but there was a long gap in between and we thought it gave us an opportunity to try Happy Valley again. So that’s the reason for trying around there, which I’m sure he will handle.”

While Happy Shooter will jump from barrier eight, he has proven to put in solid runs from wide gates in the past and can utilise early speed.

“He’s been able to overcome the draw once or twice, but most of the time he has had favourable draws. But with that said, if he can get out of the gates like he has been, he should be able to put himself in a prominent spot.”

Hewitson will reunite with Fantastic Fun in the Class Three Sauternes’s Cup (1,650m) where the Justify gelding will have his best chance to win in the grade from barrier one. The five-year-old has won three races over the course and distance this season, but has struggled with the step up from Class Four.

“He’s one of those that just seems to struggle to get the job done in Class Three, then he’s just too good for them in Class Four – it’s kind of a little bit of a grey area for him. But off the back of a win, he went and performed well,” Hewitson said.

“He’s got draw one, so should get every chance and, hoping for a good performance. I think it’ll probably be hard for him to win, but he’s another one that just performs consistently all the time, so I expect another good run.”

Winning Champion will be looking for his breakthrough victory in the second section of the Class Four Ciron Handicap (1,200m) where he will have the benefit of carrying just 116lb, but has the caveat of jumping from barrier 12.

The son of Alabama Express put in a solid effort last time to lead all the way until being run down in the final stretch and beaten two lengths by Thunder Prince.

“I thought he ran a great race last time, the horse that beat him was off a really good mark and had the back of him into the straight, and he wasn’t disgraced,” Hewitson said.

“The difficult part now is the draw. I think if he was drawn inside, I’d probably be pretty confident that he’d have a solid winning chance. Now it’s just about overcoming the wide gate.

“He’s well-proportioned, he’s nice and strong, but I do think the light weight on his back has obviously been a benefit to a smaller horse like him. But he’s well-balanced and he’s a tried horse.

“I think the blinkers on last time definitely sharpened him up, and he’s showing a lot of speed too. He’s ticking all the boxes, if he can overcome the draw he’s still a lively contender.”

Hewitson will also step out on the Mark Newnham-trained King Lotus in the Class Three Seine Handicap (1,200m), where they will look to put their third win on the board together.

The Royal Meeting galloper has been tested over longer trips this season but will drop back to his winning distance of 1,200m.

“He’s obviously been disappointing of late, but we thought just to go back to his winning distance and start from there again. He seemed like a horse that wanted further, but maybe he’s just more appreciative of being a get-back sprinter. So we’re going to test that option again and see how he goes, but he needs to bounce back to form,” Hewitson said.

“He’s just put in some maybe lacklustre performances, and then we thought to freshen up and have a go again, but he’s just been a little bit disappointing to what he showed earlier on. So now the option is just to get back to the 1,200m and see him quicken up and hit the line, and whether he’s ready to get back to winning ways or not, we’ll have to find out.”

The Francis Lui Kin-wai-trained Graceful Heart caps off Hewitson’s book of rides in the third section of the Ciron Handicap.

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