Francis Lui Kin-wai continues to operate at an impressive strike rate this season and the veteran handler will aim to bridge the gap in the trainers’ championship with a seven-strong team at Sha Tin on Sunday.

While Lui sits eight wins behind Pierre Ng Pang-chi in the championship, the 65-year-old has consistently fired in the winners even though he has saddled substantially fewer runners than the title leader.

Returning 47 winners from 338 runners, Lui boasts an excellent 13.9 per cent win rate in comparison to Ng, who has collected 55 wins from 437 attempts at a solid 12.6 per cent.

Of the top 10 trainers in the championship, only Danny Shum Chap-shing has had fewer runners, claiming 39 wins from 327 efforts.

Lui’s superb returns are also reflected in his performance from a betting perspective, with Golden Sixty’s conditioner the only trainer to return a profit over the first 62 meetings of the season.

A $10 stake on all of Lui’s runners would have yielded a tidy profit of $366, helped by 36 per cent of his favourites obliging throughout the campaign.

Lui will aim to continue his title pursuit on Sunday’s 10-race programme and last-start winner Baby Crystal could provide him with his first winner in the Class Three Dongsinan Handicap (1,000m).

The five-year-old has returned to the winner’s enclosure after his past two runs over Sha Tin’s straight course and he may be able to repeat that feat with Vincent Ho Chak-yiu in the saddle from gate 10.

Ho will also partner the Lui-trained Holy Lake in the Class Three Dongcheng District Handicap (1,600m).

A three-time winner this term, Holy Lake has collected minor money on his past two outings over 2,000m and 1,800m but returns to the distance of his latest victory.

The lightly raced pair of Packing Prospect and King Miles also represent Lui’s stable, while Brother Cheng, General Ace and Enterprise Attack complete his line-up.