Ultra impressive first up winner Darc Bounty steps up in grade this evening but appears well placed to make it back to back in the final event at Singapore.

Formerly trained by Leslie Khoo, Darc Bounty had displayed decent ability in his two career starts and proceeded to make a mess of his rivals first up.

Now under the care of Stephen Gray, Darc Bounty began well from the inside draw and enjoyed a lovely trail off the Alvin Tan trained Grey Falcon.

While the latter appeared to travel well into the straight, Darc Bounty loomed ominously passing the 500m and proceeded to give Grey Falcon a cold shortly after passing the 300m.

Displaying a very sharp turn of foot, Darc Bounty raced away to score eased down by 7L.

Easily one of the more impressive wins we have seen on the polytrack this season, Darc Bounty is obviously very promising.

While visually impressive, the clock also backed up the strength of his performance with the three-year-old recording comparatively the quickest time of the meeting.

Admittedly it is never easy for horses making the rise from a maiden to Class 4 company, however Darc Bounty strikes a fairly weak race and rates highly when assessing Timeform weight adjusted ratings.

Vlad Duric sticks aboard and is sure to adopt a prominent position from the rails draw.

While somewhat on trial at the trip, the manner in which he charged through the line suggests it won't be an issue.

Given the ease of his first up win, it is hard to see him taking a backwards step and should prove very hard to beat.

The Cliff Brown trained Could Be Pearls displayed above average during his maiden preparation and remains a big watch fresh.

While admittedly he is likely to be better over further, he appears more than capable of sprinting well fresh.

His two trials have been solid enough and he has placed in two of three attempts at this track.

From the good draw he is likely to adopt a fairly prominent position and is expected to make his presence felt with Rizuan Shafiq aboard.

The Michael Clements trained Starshine returned from a spell in good order and appears more than capable of taking that next step.

An impressive winner first up, Starshine has since been kept fresh (25 days) and is already a multiple winner at this course and distance.

Only lightly raced, he remains open to good improvement and although drawn a touch awkwardly, he still shapes as one of the main contenders.

Of the rest the John O'Hara trained Iconnic appears the next in line, having not been far off the mark in recent efforts.

While only possessing the two wins from 17 starts, he has placed on a further five occasions and cannot be taken lightly from the favourable draw.

Good luck and happy punting.