Zac Purton can continue to make up for lost time at Happy Valley tomorrow night with his three rides in the Triple Trio all worthy of banker status in their respective races.

Purton missed the first four meetings of the season with an ankle injury, but returned with a bang on Saturday at Sha Tin with his first three rides placing and his fourth and final ride of the day, Racing Hero, winning easily in the last.

The Australian has seven rides at the Valley, but it is mounts in the TT legs that stand out and can help bridge some of the gap to runaway early season jockeys' championship leader Joao Moreira, who already has 10 winners from five meetings.

The Triple Trio opens with Purton regaining the ride on Danny Shum Chap-shing's race-fit sprinter Mellifluent, who is well-drawn in a Class Four that should be run to suit, while in the final two legs, Purton rides a pair of Caspar Fownes-trained runners that look ready to strike: Joyeux and Blocker Dee.

Back in Class Four after an offseason drop, Mellifluent has run twice already this season, getting out of his ground up the straight at Sha Tin before a game performance last Wednesday at the Valley.

Purton is the only jockey to have won on Mellifluent, a similar low draw in a special conditions Class Four over tomorrow night's course and distance helping the then four-year-old break through in February. Mellifluent is no superstar and is probably destined to yo-yo up and down the ratings, but he certainly isn't as bad as his one from 21 record indicates and seven seconds back that assessment up.

This is race where a slightly better draw than last time out, dropping from six to three, should allow Purton to take a nice sit behind a speed that should be solid on the C course.

A number of on-pacers that are would-be chances drew wide: Mighty Equus (Neil Callan), Star of Wai Bo (Moreira) and Sir John (Brett Prebble) jumping from gate 9, 10 and 12 respectively. Underneath, Lovely Naughty (Derek Leung Ka-chun) should dig up from barrier one, ensuring speed.

All that pressure should create the type of map that can aid Purton, stalking around midfield or better.

Happy Champion (Gerald Mosse) put in an eye-catcher last time out and would also benefit from any kind of pressure up front.

Joyeux lines up in the other section of the Class Four 1,200m, first-up for his four-year-old campaign after a solid enough trial. Barrier five and his above average gate speed should allow him to find a nice position in another race where there is pace drawn wide.

Ten Flames (Moreira) is the biggest threat and a double banker option, after he fired out of the gates last start and stuck on well.

Jolly Posh (Chad Schofield) is crying out for a decent draw, but he does not get one as he steps up to 1,200m - a distance he does not look as strong at anyway.

Even if Schofield opts out of going forward, Golden Bauhinia, with the 10-pound claiming Jack Wong Ho-nam aboard will offer nuisance value for anyone daring to make a play for the front.

Still include Jolly Posh, along with Spitfire (Matthew Chadwick), who looks to get a nice run from gate two, and expect a better showing from Plenty Of Speed (Douglas Whyte) - he was stuck deep over the course and distance first-up, but drops from barrier nine into gate three.

Winning Boy might be the one to leave out - even though he is fit and up to his best, he might just have hit a ratings wall.

Blocker Dee ran once late last season, getting home well at the end of the Valley 1,000m at the penultimate meeting of the term in July. That looked to be too short for him and he now steps up to a Class Three 1,200m race on the back of a fitness-building trial.

Excel Oneself (Richard Fourie) goes up six pounds for his first-up success over the course and distance, but will be right in this again, especially if he gets to dictate terms in front, and he goes in as another option as banker.

This is a competitive contest: General Iron (Leung) and King Of Mongolia (Whyte) both ran well first-up, while Both Lucky (Moreira) returns looking like an improved horse, with a good draw and off the back of a strong barrier trial at the track.

Imperial Rome (Callan) will have his supporters, and even though his barrier manners seem to have improved, it's a gamble as to whether he will jump.