Holding on to a one-win lead over David Hayes in the trainers’ championship, Mark Newnham is confident he can add to his advantage when the in-form Max Que and Power Koepp spearhead his team of six at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

Newnham’s stellar campaign has seen him head the standings for most of the first half of the season, trading blows with Fownes for the lead several times while Hayes’ recent surge has also put him right into contention.

After striking with impressive three-year-old Lucky Ranger at Sha Tin on Sunday, Newnham turns his attention to the city circuit on Wednesday night with Max Que chasing back-to-back victories in the Class Three Consensus Cup (1,650m).

The five-year-old has been in outstanding form with three wins and as many thirds from six starts this term, starting his campaign with a pair of Sha Tin triumphs before dominating his rivals at the Valley last start under Zac Purton.

He justified strong support into $1.75 favouritism to charge from midfield and beat Silvery Breeze by a comfortable one-and-a-quarter lengths in the Class Three APM Monaco Cup (1,650m), giving Newnham confidence he can repeat the dose on Wednesday night.

“He won really well last start – he’s had the exact same preparation as his last start,” Newnham said.

“Zac trialled him eight days before and he’s prepared well for this. He’s going to be hard to beat if he repeats that sort of level.”

Max Que must overcome a 12lb penalty when he jumps to 134lb against the likes of Flying Fortress, A Americ Te Specso, Outgate and Withallmyfaith.

Newnham has similar confidence in Power Koepp, who backs up in the second section of the Class Three Sam Chuk Handicap (1,200m) after an encouraging third behind Romantic Son last Wednesday night.

The evergreen eight-year-old produced his best run of the season when only beaten half a length and has relished the quick turnaround previously.

“He’s building. Last season he won on a back up and it was always the plan to run him again after his last start,” said Newnham.

“He’s going into the race off the back of a good run and if he draws a good gate he’ll be hard to beat.”

Power Koepp will have to overcome a wide draw in gate nine with Hugh Bowman in the saddle.

Newnham will be hoping Exceed The Wish’s first Class Five run on turf in the Shung Ling Handicap (1,000m) can work the oracle, with the two-time Valley runner-up failing on his dirt debut in the same grade last start.

The Australian’s other three runners – Setanta, Star Performer and Spicy Gold – have produced mixed form in recent starts.

Setanta showed a win might not be far away with back-to-back placings, but he followed that up with a lacklustre seventh behind Ragga Bomb last start.

“He probably had too much pace to chase last start – the speed they went last time didn’t allow anything to get into the race,” Newnham said.

“If he gets an evenly run race, his last two starts show he’s in good form and he’s getting to a mark where he should be competitive.”

Setanta’s last win was off a rating of 56 in June 2024 and he has dropped to a mark of 43.

Star Performer has run on late for fourths on his past two starts while Spicy Gold, who tackles the first section of the first section of the Class Three Sam Chuk Handicap, has only managed one second from six starts this season.