Zac Purton has persuaded Danny Shum Chap-shing to change Victor The Winner’s programme, with one of the rising stars of Hong Kong’s sprint division racing at Sha Tin this Saturday rather than relaxing at Conghua.

Convinced he had found the key to unlocking Victor The Winner’s undoubted potential – extended breaks between his races – Shum did not rush his exciting speedster back to the track following his four-length romp at Class Three level in January.

Victor The Winner repaid Shum for his 54-day respite from racing, which included five weeks at the Jockey Club’s facility in Conghua, with, arguably, the best performance of his burgeoning career on March 19.

Purton, who replaced Hugh Bowman aboard Victor The Winner because he couldn’t make the weight of 120 pounds, pushed his freewheeling mount to take the lead from Winning Dreamer 800m from the line, and none of his Class Two rivals could match motors with him over the final furlong, which he covered faster than all of them.

Now Purton has pushed Shum to abandon his original plan not to enter Victor The Winner in another event until at least May, which the Royal Ascot-winning trainer said had been his intention after the A$180,000 (HK$950,000) yearling’s latest success.

Asked why Victor The Winner is contesting Saturday’s Class Two Nurturing Talent Handicap (1,200m) 27 days on from his previous start, Shum said: “Because Zac wanted to ride him in this race. He really insisted the horse run this race. He said, ‘otherwise he goes six, seven, eight weeks – it’s too long’. He said, ‘come on, run this race’. The owner said, ‘OK, if Zac asks to ride, if he’s confident, we can try’.”

The Nurturing Talent Handicap is the highlight of the 10-race card at Sha Tin because it features not only three sprinters looking for consecutive triumphs but also the highest-rated gallopers of three stables.

Like Victor The Winner, Howdeepisyourlove seeks to complete a hat-trick of triumphs, but John Size’s three-year-old changes courses after back-to-back wins at Happy Valley and makes his Sha Tin debut. Frankie Lor Fu-chuen’s Adios reverts to turf after winning the second of his two dirt runs in March.

David Hayes’ Nervous Witness (100), Benno Yung Tin-pang’s Ka Ying Master (94) and Dennis Yip Chor-hong’s Goko Win (85) are the flag bearers for their respective yards, although both Nervous Witness and Ka Ying Master have not walked into the winner’s circle since this time last season. Goko Win was victorious two starts ago, and he was a recent neck runner-up to Adios on the all-weather surface.

Rounding out the field are Trillion Win, Ima Single Man, Winning Dreamer, Carroll Street, Oriental Smoke and Toronado Phantom.

Trillion Win, Ima Single Man, Winning Dreamer, Oriental Smoke and Toronado Phantom reoppose Victor The Winner much better at the weights after Jockey Club handicappers penalised Shum’s sprinter 10 points for his fourth Sha Tin 1,200m triumph.

Carroll Street returns to Sha Tin for his third run back from injury – he was off the scene for 259 days between June and February – but he rises in distance from 1,000m to 1,200m. Douglas Whyte’s speedster has finished each of his three 1,200m races worse than fourth, although two of them were at Happy Valley.