Wunderbar’s last-start defeat left Zac Purton slightly disappointed, but the champion jockey is optimistic the progressive sprinter can take advantage of a better draw and bounce back to his best at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Set a task from barrier 11 in a race packed with early speed, the John Size-trained gelding settled just off the pace with cover but only responded fairly to Purton’s riding in the straight when fifth behind Raging Blizzard.

It was the worst finishing position of Wunderbar’s exciting career to date, with the son of Rich Enuff recording six wins – crowned by a pair of victories over Group One winner Ka Ying Rising – and two seconds from his first eight starts.

“He drew poorly last time and that midsection was run nearly a second inside standard, so they were rocking along,” Purton said of Wunderbar’s defeat as the $2.5 favourite.

“There was plenty of pressure and I thought from the gate we got into a good position – midfield three wide with some cover, usually it’s a good spot. I had the winner inside of me and when I presented him in the straight, he didn’t seem to respond.”

In Sunday’s Class Two Tai Tong Handicap (1,200m), Wunderbar shapes as the likely leader from barrier two in a race with far less speed engaged.

“He’s certainly drawn better. From the inside gate, he might be that type of horse that just wants to run along, so he’ll get his chance to do that and hopefully bounce back,” Purton said.

“He was first out the gates the other day but there was so much speed inside that they quickly mustered and you can’t get across them. It wasn’t easy, but from a much better draw, if he begins the same way he can hold his position.”

Wunderbar reopposes the first two home from his last start, Raging Blizzard and Gorgeous Win, while Copartner Prance, Flying Ace, Son Pak Fu, Full Credit, James Tak and Swift Ascend round out the field for Sunday’s race.

Swift Ascend is in red-hot form for David Eustace with three wins and a second from four starts this season.

Trailing Douglas Whyte’s all-time Hong Kong record by just 10 wins, Purton is confident he can reap the rewards of getting down to a light weight to ride Packing Angel in the Class Three Broadwood Handicap (1,400m).

A dominant Class Four winner by almost three lengths last start, the Francis Lui Kin-wai-trained gelding drops from 131 pounds with Purton to ride him a few pounds over his allotted weight of 118.

“It’s the last race as well. I’ll be hungry and thirsty by the time I get there, but hopefully it’s worth it,” Purton said.

“He’s a lightly-raced horse, he showed his best last time and he just needed a little bit of luck from the gate [13]. He was able to slot in back in the field and come with a good, strong run.

“He’s starting to find his way a little bit now, which is good. If he can produce the same performance, he’ll be a shot with a light weight.

“He’s always shown us right from the start that he had some ability, but he was a little bit difficult to manage in the mornings and on race day, he drew some bad gates which didn’t help.

“He just needed a bit of time to mature and find his way a little bit, as a lot of them do here. He’s still not there – he’s still taking things step by step, but he gets his chance to continue on his journey.”

Silver Destiny, Circuit Jolly, Ka Ying Radiance, Hakka Radiance, Ka Ying Victory, Pakistan Legacy and Magnificent Nine are the other Sha Tin rides for Purton, who celebrated his 42nd birthday on Friday.