Living up to his reputation as a fast starter, Danny Shum Chap-shing bagged his second double from as many meetings and announced four-year-old series plans for his two winners at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

The veteran handler repeated last Sunday’s brace with Harmony N Home and Gorgeous Win at Sha Tin’s season opener when Packing Power maintained his unbeaten record and Helene Warrior resumed in style at the city circuit.

Three months after an emphatic Valley triumph on debut, Packing Power enhanced his fledgling reputation with an explosive performance under champion jockey Zac Purton.

Sent out the red-hot $1.3 favourite in the second section of the Class Four Shek O Handicap (1,200m), Packing Power stalked pacesetter Colonel early in running before surging to the lead early in the straight.

The four-year-old let loose with a sharp turn of foot to quickly put the result beyond doubt, with Purton easing him down late to still score by two and a half lengths from Fairy Horse.

Shum plans to test Packing Power at Sha Tin as soon as his next start, with the HK$13 million Classic Mile in January a long-term goal.

“He’s nice,” Shum said. “Luckily the owners trusted me to give him a lot of time to mature. Maybe he will go to Sha Tin next, we’ll see how he goes. [The Classic Mile] is the plan. I think he’ll get 1,400m and 1,600m.”

Helene Warrior capped Shum’s brace with an all-the-way triumph in the Class Three Hoi Mei Handicap (1,650m) under Hugh Bowman, prompting Shum to raise the prospect of a tilt at the HK$26 million Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) in March.

A dual British winner when known as Red Zone Hero, the three-year-old colt fought on strongly to hold off Samarkand by half a length in his second Hong Kong victory.

“I think he’ll handle the distance, but only if he’s more settled,” Shum said of the Derby.

“You can see he sweats so much, so if he relaxes a bit more, he’ll be a lot better. His bodyweight is not heavy, so I’m worried about gelding him.”

Elsewhere, Matthew Poon Ming-fai continued his own brilliant start to the season when claiming the Valley’s first race of the term, the Class Five Chung Hom Kok Handicap (1,200m), on Manfred Man Ka-leung’s Viva A La.

Fresh from a 570-1 running double at last Sunday’s season opener at Sha Tin, Poon guided Viva A La to a dominant all-the-way win by three lengths.

“I think it’s almost the best start to a season for me,” Poon said. “I started work early before the start of the season and I’m very happy to get support and trust of trainers.

“I really want to prove that we can get the job done if we have the horse. So, I’m very pleased to have the trust of owners and trainers.”

Man wasn’t shocked by the ease of Viva A La’s fourth victory from 37 starts.

“His form is good and he trialled well behind [stablemate] Viva Hunter, who is a Class Four horse,” Man said. “He always runs a good race over 1,200m at Happy Valley.”

Mark Newnham also added to his fine start to the new campaign when Scotch Tycoon led all the way to win the first section of the Shek O Handicap by two and a quarter lengths under Luke Ferraris.

“When he came up with gate one, the plan was always to lead,” said Newnham, who landed a brace at Sha Tin’s season opener courtesy of Same To You and My Wish.

“He’s won here leading before. His form since he had [throat] surgery last year has been really good. He ran into Packing Hermod, The Winnabe – he ran into good horses.”

Last season’s champion trainer, Francis Lui Kin-wai, registered his first victory of the season when Matsu Victor stormed home to win the Class Four Community Chest Cup (1,650m) under Vincent Ho Chak-yiu.