Jockey Zac Purton will climb aboard the Caspar Fownes-trained Dances With Dragon (NZ) (Savabeel) at Happy Valley on Wednesday in the Class 2 Camellia Handicap (1650m).
The six-year-old New Zealand import, winner of the G1 Levin Classic as a three-year-old when racing as Hall of Fame, has found a new lease of life since switching from the Peter Ho yard to the Fownes stable, nailing two wins (both under Purton) from three starts.
“He’s like his trainer, he’s nice and strong – he’s a little bit fitter than me but he’s in good nick!” Fownes said. “He remains in good form, he’s taken a liking to Happy Valley – he’s back to the mile and he’ll give a good account of himself.
“I thought there was something to work with when he lobbed to the yard and obviously now we’re getting close to triple figures (rating) so you would think it’ll start to get tough but maybe he’s still got some points in hand. Hopefully we can bring him back to Sha Tin at a later stage and see if he can do that on the Sha Tin grass.”
