Caspar Fownes is confident Straight Arron can make his presence felt in a Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) lacking depth behind superstar Romantic Warrior and last year’s winner Russian Emperor.

Fownes was leaning towards skipping the final Group One of the season with his recent Group Three Queen Mother Memorial Cup (2,400m) victor but says he decided to give the four-year-old his first crack at the elite level once the race took shape.

“I was contemplating whether I’d run him or not. It was a hard effort the other day – he stuck to his guns. It was a big step up in trip and obviously he’s going to strip fitter again at this distance. Going back to back will help him,” Fownes said.

“We made the entry, we looked at the race and thought, ‘you know what, let’s see if we can run a good race’, which I’m sure he will. He’ll show us something, but at set weights, it’s a different ball game.

“You’ve got last year’s winner there, Russian Emperor, whom I’m sure Douglas [Whyte] will have in great nick, and then obviously Romantic Warrior stepping up to 2,400m, which looks well within his capabilities as such a top-class horse.

“Look, we’re 102-rated – we’re out of the ratings in this race – but we don’t know where this horse’s true rating is. He keeps improving and I think he’ll be a better horse come December because he’s just starting to strengthen up and do things right.

“I can’t ask much more of him, he’s won three of four for me, and we’re very proud of him.”

While Straight Arron is 28 points below Romantic Warrior, and stablemate Columbus County sits one point below him on a mark of 101, the race falls away after that, with Five G Patch (87) and Natural Storm (81) rounding out the nine-horse field.

Also in the line-up is Fownes’ Senor Toba, who was a disappointing 11th behind Straight Arron in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup in his first run after three assignments in the Middle East.

“The main concern on Sunday is he doesn’t have mucus, which he’s just been plagued with at the last few starts for some reason,” Fownes said.

“We’ve sent him to Conghua and we’re hoping bringing him back a few days earlier will be the recipe to getting him back on track and getting him back to [the level he was] performing before he left for the Middle East.

Romantic Warrior in good shape ahead of historic Champions & Chater Cup tilt

“He performed well before his trip, and if he has no mucus, he’s a horse you have to respect. We’re hoping he can hit the frame.

“I thought Columbus County ran a great race [when fourth in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup] the other day, stepping up from the mile to the 2,400m. Obviously, he’s going to strip a lot fitter for that run. His work during the week was very, very nice, and he presents as a horse with fresh legs, so we’d be hopeful of hitting the frame.

“We’ve got a couple of chances there who can hopefully pick up prize money, but obviously, the champion [Romantic Warrior] is in there with us, so we give him the utmost respect.”