In-form trainer Cody Mo Wai-kit is confident Markwin can take another crucial step towards next month’s Classic Mile when he chases a third consecutive win at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Fresh from a double at Happy Valley on Thursday night, second-season handler Mo has been buoyed by Markwin’s sensational start to his career with back-to-back victories and a pair of placings.

After running a close second on debut in October and third on his following start, the son of I Am Invincible broke through emphatically with a two-length triumph over 1,400m at Sha Tin on November 17.

He handled the jump to Class Three level last start with ease, storming home from well back to beat Charming Legend by a length and a quarter on the Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) undercard.

Johannes Brahms ran fourth in that race and subsequently landed his first Hong Kong success last Sunday, stamping his own Classic Series credentials.

“I hope he will go well again,” Mo said. “This horse keeps improving and I hope he will keep going. We’ll see [about the Classic Mile] – we’ll just take it step by step.”

The HK$13 million Classic Mile, the first leg of the prestigious four-year-old series, is on January 31.

Matthew Chadwick has picked up the prized mount on Markwin in Sunday’s Class Three Eagle’s Nest Handicap (1,400m) with his regular rider, Derek Leung Ka-chun, serving a careless riding suspension.

Rising eight pounds on his last-start win, Markwin concedes an additional six and seven pounds, respectively, to the reopposing Charming Legend and Beauty Crescent.

Unbeaten from two starts in Australia pre-import, Charming Legend was an impressive Sha Tin winner on his Hong Kong debut for Danny Shum Chap-shing before running second to Markwin last start.

Beauty Crescent ran third in the same race and backs up from a closing second to Johannes Brahms last Sunday. Still chasing a maiden success after 24 starts, the Tony Cruz-trained gelding is bursting to win a race after placing on his past four runs.

Mo will be represented by another last-start winner, Offroad Master, in the Class Four Luk Keng Handicap (1,200m) on the dirt on Sunday.

Following an encouraging fourth first up on turf, the Time Test four-year-old handled the switch to the all-weather track with a comfortable victory over Shanghai Style.

“He also keeps improving but in this race, he has to carry top weight,” Mo said of Offroad Master’s eight-pound rise to 135.

“We’ll see how he goes.”

Chadwick will again ride Offroad Master, who must overcome a five-pound swing to the reopposing Shanghai Style on Sunday.

Yoo Yoo Knight, Cool Blue, California Blitz, Forerunner and Happy Fat Cat are the other Sha Tin runners for Mo, who sits sixth on the trainers’ premiership with 18 wins this term.

The 47-year-old landed a double in combination with Jerry Chau Chun-lok at the Valley on Boxing Day, with Embraces saluting on stable debut and Romantic Laos proving too slick in the final race.

After two seconds from his five starts for Jamie Richards, Embraces made an impression when he stormed home from last to bolt in by two lengths on Thursday night.

“I was a bit surprised he won by that margin,” Mo said.

“In the last race before he came to my stable, Zac [Purton] rode him over 1,200m and you could see he had to push him to get into a position, so I thought 1,650m would suit him.”