Ricky Yiu Poon-fai is clinging to the coattails of the leaders in this season’s trainers’ championship following his treble at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

With 11 victories since January 21, Yiu is churning out winners with regularity and his excellent night puts him on 31 triumphs for the campaign, just four behind competition leader John Size and two off Frankie Lor Fu-chuen.

Yiu’s good form was again highlighted by the most impressive winner under the lights as Splendid Living got off the mark in Hong Kong at his 16th attempt in the second section of the Class Four Sai Kung Handicap (1,650m).

Well backed into $3.5, the six-year-old was taken to the front early by Harry Bentley and had his rivals hard at work turning for home before sprinting clear to win by three lengths, with Yiu pleased to get a win out of a horse who has proved difficult to train.

“He’s a very immature European horse and still towards the finish he did a little zigzag,” Yiu said. “Not long after he arrived in Hong Kong, he had a small surgery to have a bone chip taken out, but he’s recovered well.”

Yiu’s first midweek win came in the opening race on the card when Diamond Soars bounced back to form to take out the Class Five Sheung Shui Handicap (1,000m).

A winner on dirt at Sha Tin in October, he was beaten more than 20 lengths in his previous start on New Year’s Day and was found to have substantial mucus in his trachea after the race.

But given a six-week break and some time in Conghua, the four-year-old was always well placed under Hugh Bowman and picked up leader Kowloon Star with 200m to go to win by half a length to earn himself a rise back to Class Four company.

Yiu and Bowman again teamed up in the finale as Nimble Nimbus picked up his second win of the season in the Class Three Tsuen Wan Handicap (1,650m).

Yiu’s Hong Kong Classic Mile winner Voyage Bubble will again have the assistance of Jamie Kah from the saddle in the HK$12 million Classic Cup (1,800m), with the trainer revealing the top Australian jockey will ride four of his runners at Sha Tin on February 26.

It is not only Yiu who holds an outside chance in the trainers’ premiership because Danny Shum Chap-shing celebrated a Happy Valley double to boost his seasonal tally to 30 wins.

Shum has hit a rich vein of form with seven wins across the past five meetings and the handler was forced to think outside the box to get a win out of See U Again in the first section of the Class Four Kwai Chung Handicap (1,200m).

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After equipping See U Again with blinkers and a tongue tie for each of his past three starts, Shum opted to remove all equipment and was rewarded with a narrow win as the four-year-old broke his maiden at the 14th attempt under Jerry Chau Chun-lok.

Chau has found his stride at this course recently – he has ridden winners at each of the past four Happy Valley meetings – and he brought up his midweek double when guiding Son Pak Fu to success in the trophy race on the programme, the Class Four Rotary Centenary Challenge Cup (1,200m).

Shum had earlier been successful with G One Excellent, who picked up the Class Four Tai Po Handicap (1,000m) to record back-to-back wins after his victory over the same course and distance in December.