The Richard Gibson-trained Navas took his time about posting win number two here but the five-year-old can strike while the iron is hot in the Ireland Trophy (1,200m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

Navas (Keith Yeung Ming-lun) put up an impressive performance to come from last at the 300m last start and win in Class Four, the end of a 16-month drought since his first win at his second local race start.

He has had mixed fortunes since, often not helping himself by being slow away at the start, but the drop to Class Four two runs ago saw the gelding find some form again and finish third before his win on February 7.

With those confidence-building efforts, he should be able to step back up to what is not the toughest Class Three he will find. Importantly, that first win in late 2016 was in Class Three so there is no quality question to answer.

His starts are always a concern but the way this race maps this evening looks ideal.

Dashing Gainer was a 1,000m specialist in Australia and that looks like it will be his thing here too so he has plenty of pace to lead them from gate one.

Nearby him, the lightly weighted Most Beautiful and Extremely Fun will also be pushing forward from gate three and five respectively.

So three of the inside five will be rushing forward early, leaving a hole behind them where a slower starter like Navas will get space to work his way through to a rails spot half to two thirds of the way back.

With speedy types like Good Companion and Healthy Luck (Douglas Whyte) drawn wider and wanting to work across, that should ensure a worthwhile pace to suit a horse like Navas running home late.

The barrier isn’t quite as kind to Spring Win (Joao Moreira), but he looks a danger. He was slightly held up behind the leader last time and might have been unlucky not to get to Charity Glory.