The King of the Valley heads to his happiest of hunting grounds with a string of in-form runners on Thursday night.

Caspar Fownes has had six winners across the past four Happy Valley meetings and some of his recent scorers are making quick returns to the racecourse in an attempt to grab some more chocolates.

Noble Pursuit was an easy winner over 1,650m on his first try at Happy Valley a fortnight ago, with the victory his second of the season under Hugh Bowman.

With the Australian out of action for the next couple of meetings after being suspended for careless riding, Fownes has turned to Alexis Badel as Noble Pursuit steps up to 1,800m for the first time in the Class Three Yue Man Handicap.

“We’re stretching him an extra furlong so hopefully he’ll give us a nice performance,” Fownes said. “He’s drawn a nice gate [in stall four], which is what he needs as you don’t have to sweat getting into a spot.

“He’ll be where he’s comfortable, ridden to get the trip and hopefully he’ll be strong at the end of it.

“He’s up in class and down in weight. I don’t see that being too much of a problem for him because he’s a horse that has quite a bit of upside.”

Nicconi County snapped a 13-race losing streak stretching back to June 2022 when winning on the same Happy Valley card as Noble Pursuit and will be attempting to win back-to-back races over course and distance for Karis Teetan in the second section of the Class Three Mut Wah Handicap (1,200m).

The five-year-old may still have some wriggle room off his rating of 69, three points off his highest winning mark, and Fownes feels he will run well if he gets a fast pace to take aim at.

“He fought on well last time, but he’s pretty pace dependent,” Fownes said. “He needs a bit of speed in his race to get him to relax and then he can reel off a good final sectional.

“He’s drawn six and if the tempo is on and he can slot into a similar position to last time, there’s no reason he can’t be competitive again. His last three runs have been nice.”

After wins either side of the new year, Lyrical Motion was denied a hat-trick when finishing fourth last start.

Purton keen to pick up pace in second half of season: ‘It’s been a bit of a grind’

However, that effort came from stall 10 and Fownes believes that better can be expected from barrier four, with 10-pound claimer Ellis Wong Chi-wang again on board for the second section of the Class Four Tsun Yip Handicap (1,200m).

“He really needed a draw and he’s got one,” Fownes said. “He was out wide last time and still performed well. He’s only had one bad gate so there’s no reason he can’t be competitive. Hopefully he gets in a good spot and goes well. He’s in good nick.”

Fownes has four other runners on the card, including Atomic Force in the Class Three Volunteers’ Challenge Cup (1,200m), who is now back at the Valley and breaking from a rare good draw in stall five, while Valhalla is attempting to win his fourth race at Happy Valley this season in the first section of the Tsun Yip Handicap.