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Pierre Ng continued his impressive start to the season by holding onto his lead in the Hong Kong trainers' championship at Happy Valley on Wednesday night 13 December. The second-season trainer achieved this feat by securing victory for the 12th consecutive meeting.
Ng is currently leading the championship with 32 victories out of 27 meetings, putting him 10 wins ahead of Danny Shum who has 22. Over the past 12 fixtures, Ng has trained 20 winners, successfully fulfilling his pre-season commitment to surpass his debut season's record of 41 winners.
“We don’t think of the number of winners, we just keep our head down and keep going and we try to get as many winners as we can,” Ng said. “We haven’t set any targets, we just want to achieve, win races for the owners, get prize money for the stable and get more support for the future.
“That’s how the game is and that’s how we’re going to play it.”
Dragon Star claimed victory in the Class 4 Lam Tin Handicap thanks to a perfect front-running ride by Karis Teetan, making it another win for trainer Ng. Meanwhile, trainer Caspar Fownes celebrated a double, with veteran Explosive Witness breaking his drought in the Class 3 Choi Wan Handicap (1000m) under James McDonald. Both Teetan and McDonald secured doubles, while Zac Purton maintained his lead in the Hong Kong jockeys’ championship with 39 wins.
Fownes, known as the ‘King of the Valley’ with a record 582 wins at the city circuit, has had 19 wins overall for the campaign, but few have brought him as much satisfaction as Explosive Witness’ victory. The 9YO horse had not won since his Gr.3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy Handicap victory on 1 January, 2021. Fownes said, “He’s raced extremely well all season, and he’s certainly one horse who’s deserved to get that win. We worked hard to get him there, so he was well deserving of that victory.”Super Contented gave Fownes the first leg of his brace after prevailing in a tight finish to the Class 5 Sau Mau Ping Handicap under Keagan De Melo.
McDonald closed the meeting with victory aboard Copartner Ambition in the Class 3 Jordan Valley Handicap for Danny Shum.
Elsewhere, Frankie Lor ended his 55-run of outs for the 2021/22 season with Brazen Beau 3YO Golden Long's impressive win in the second section of the Class 4 Kwun Tong Handicap under Matthew Chadwick.
“He’s still a little bit green but he won the race well. He finished well and I hope he can be a really good horse,” Lor said.
Samarkand secured its second consecutive victory by triumphing in the Class 4 Ngau Chi Wan Handicap under the guidance of David Hayes and Jerry Chau. Despite carrying a weight of 127lb, this Mongolian Khan gelding once again displayed his affinity for Happy Valley by delivering yet another courageous performance.
“He’s acclimatised now and I have a feeling he’s that style of horse who really likes the Valley and can keep going through the classes because he’s got tactical speed and that makes it easier,” Hayes said.
“We’ll race him around here and probably keep him to a mile. He can go 1800 (metres) but he’s more impressive at the mile.”
In the first section of the Class 4 Kwun Tong Handicap, Cody Mo and Luke Ferraris teamed up with Togepi, who won by a narrow margin. Meanwhile, in the Class 5 Ngau Tau Kok Handicap, Douglas Whyte's patience with Double Show paid off when the Showcasing gelding captured the race under the skillful guidance of Teetan. Despite being rated 25 after 25 unsuccessful attempts over three seasons, the 5YO finished strong to claim his first victory.