Brave Legend hasn’t been with Tony Cruz very long but his first run for the yard on Wednesday night made him look like a winner in waiting.

Brave Legend was a winner over the Happy Valley 1,200m at big odds earlier in the season in good style but has not been able to build on that in a handful of starts since.

On Wednesday night, Brave Legend got back in the field, as is his style, but found the line strongly for third to Shanghai Master despite having to squeeze through a tight run in the home straight.

His former trainer Benno Yung Tin-pang tried him over further than 1,200m, which should have suited him based on his overseas form, but circumstances on each occasion did not play into his hands.

He relished a fast pace the night he won at Happy Valley then a number of his races thereafter were in stop-start tempos which did not appear to suit him as well, even when stepped up in distance.

That lack of tactical ability is a drawback but his run midweek suggested that Brave Legend is going as well as he ever has since connections made the move to change their luck by switching to one of Hong Kong’s perennial top yards.

Cruz might choose to keep him at the shorter trips with the expectation of a good speed or he might move up in distance with the gelding and hope for a suitable pace but Brave Legend has more wins in him.

Also into the black book from Wednesday goes Silverfield, who was on his way too soon in the second-last race and it proved his undoing.

Silverfield actually followed the ultimate winner Roman Impero to the 650m but when jockey Derek Leung Ka-chun elected to take off at that stage, their roles became reversed and he wound up dragging Roman Impero into the race.

With the last shot, Roman Impero got over the top of Silverfield late, but the Michael Freedman-trained grey, who won so impressively in Class Four early in the term, looks ominously like an imminent winner if he gets the right trip.