Zac Purton fears a wide draw and plethora of speed drawn inside Wunderbar could prove the progressive sprinter’s undoing in Sunday’s Class Two Poinsettia Handicap (1,200m) at Sha Tin.

A brilliant winner at six of eight starts, including two victories over subsequent Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) hero Ka Ying Rising, Wunderbar will be out to avenge his last-start defeat when a close second to Magic Control down the Sha Tin straight.

However, Purton believes the John Size-trained gelding faces a challenge from barrier 11 and against a field full of speed horses.

I Give, Harmony N Blessed and Glory Elite are noted leaders while the likes of Call Me Glorious, Bottomuptogether and Superb Capitalist are others that tend to race on top of the speed.

“He hasn’t drawn well and there’s a lot of speed in the race,” Purton said.

“It looks like it could be a bit complicated, but we’re just going to have to work it out, aren’t we? John will work it out, I’ll wait until he tells me what to do.

“I was hoping the race was going to be a little bit shallower in depth and we drew a bit better. There’s a few runners there and we’ve drawn awkward. It is what it is.”

Wunderbar is still expected to start a popular favourite given his superb record, which included four consecutive wins before his latest appearance.

The Rich Enuff gelding dropped back from 1,200m to 1,000m and was sent off the $1.4 favourite, but couldn’t reel in the speedy Magic Control late when a shorthead second.

Magic Control won a Sha Tin trial by a whopping nine lengths on Tuesday in preparation for his next assignment, the Group Three Bauhinia Sprint Trophy (1,000m) on January 1.

“He was beaten by a very good horse, they were well clear of the rest of the field and Magic Control’s come out and trialled very well again,” Purton said.

“I don’t think it was dropping back in distance, we just ran into a good horse on his day.”

Purton has won on several of Wunderbar’s rivals on Sunday, most notably Fast Network, who backs up from his shock defeat last weekend.

A winner at three of his first four starts with Purton on board, the Dennis Yip Chor-hong-trained gelding was squeezed out at the start when fourth as the $1.3 favourite behind Stellar Express down the straight.

Bottomuptogether, a three-time winner with Purton aboard, should be suited dropping back in distance after running sixth to Green N White in the Class Two Panasonic Cup (1,400m) last start.

The Frankie Lor Fu-chuen-trained gelding also pulled up with a substantial amount of blood in his trachea post-race, but he has since been cleared to race after winning a trial impressively.

I Give joins Fast Network in backing up from last Sunday’s Class Two sprint down the straight, having run a solid second to Stellar Express, while Glory Elite and Gorgeous Win should be suited returning to Sha Tin after racing at the Valley recently.

Purton has a full book of rides in his return from the illness that forced him to miss Wednesday night’s all-weather meeting.

“I’m certainly feeling better than I was. I had a couple of days to rest, which was nice,” Purton said.

Special Hedge, Lucky Statement, City Thunder, Sunday’s Serenade, Sunny Da Best, Serangoon, Riding Together, Romantic Son and Lucy In The Sky are Purton’s other rides.

“Romantic Son drew wide last time and I had to do a bit of work on him and it didn’t suit him,” Purton said of the David Hayes-trained gelding’s last-start defeat, which was also on an unsuitably rain-affected Valley track.

“But getting back to a bigger track, he’s now had a bit more time between runs and we’ll see how he handles Sha Tin.”