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| Staff Writer |
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Frankie Lor Fu-chuen finally broke his longest dry spell in his career on Wednesday night at Happy Valley. His first victory since 11th November came courtesy of debutant Golden Long. During the intervening period, Lor suffered through 55 losses, causing him to slide down to eighth place in the premiership rankings for the 2021-22 season.
“Yes, it’s nice to have a winner. No [I haven’t felt any pressure], the horse has to be healthy to win the race,” said Lor, who set a first-season record with 65 wins in his debut campaign in 2017-18 and has amassed 409 victories overall.
“In that time, some horses have had problems or a fever, so it’s difficult. We are the trainers, and we try and keep the horse healthy first before we put them in the race. If the horse has a problem, we cannot get them going.”
Despite impressing at the trials, Golden Long was slightly wayward early on in the Class Four Kwun Tong Handicap. However, after settling forward of midfield, he showed great promise with a purposeful run to the finish line under jockey Matthew Chadwick. I sent off US$8.95 for the second section of the race.
“In the morning, he’s still a bit green, and I’ve trialled him four times already. He has been fighting with the jockey quite a bit, so in his last trial, I asked the jockey to let him relax,” Lor said.
“I don’t want the jockeys to fight with the horse, and now he looks much better. 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.”
The jockey, Chadwick, finally ended his 54-ride winless streak that dated back to 8th November, as his horse, Golden Long, crossed the finish line in the first place. However, Chadwick was not the only one to break a losing streak at the midweek meeting.
Explosive Witness, the 2021 Group Three Bauhinia Sprint Trophy winner, ended his 1,076 days and 24 starts drought by winning the Class Three Choi Wan Handicap. After his New Year's Day victory, Explosive Witness had received a rating boost of 99, but had dropped 25 points in the ratings before his recent win.
“He’s a 9YO, but he’s raced extremely well all season. Every run, he’s given us a great effort, and he’s certainly one horse who’s deserved to get that win,” said trainer Caspar Fownes.
“We worked hard to get him there. We worked hard to maintain his fitness and present the horse in good form, so he was well deserving of that victory.”
Under the guidance of renowned Kiwi jockey James McDonald for the second time, Explosive Witness raced from gate seven of nine in the recent event. Despite starting from behind, the horse managed to steadily gain ground throughout the race. This impressive performance led to Explosive Witness securing his fifth victory in Hong Kong, out of a total of 39 local starts.
“Last time he just jumped too good – he flew the gates – and he was there, and that wasn’t him,” Fownes said.
“[McDonald] was keen to ride him again, and I just told him today, ‘just jump and fifth or sixth is fine, and he’ll really launch for you’.
“He’s gone out when he should have gone in. He’s had a few things that just haven’t panned out for him, but his runs have been sensational.”
Fownes enjoyed a double victory as Explosive Witness won, following the earlier triumph of Super Contented. The latter had switched from the extended mile on the dirt to the Happy Valley equivalent and emerged victorious.
“I think it doesn’t matter [which track] with him. It was just a case of him toughening up and starting to understand what it was all about,” Fownes said of Super Contented, who broke his maiden at start nine in the Class Five Sau Mau Ping Handicap.
“We’ve had to get him to the races more often and just say, ‘Right boy, this is your profession, so get the job done.’”
McDonald had a successful day at the races, winning two races including the finale on Copartner Ambition for Danny Shum Chap-shing. Meanwhile, Karis Teetan also had a notable performance, riding Double Show and Dragon Star for runaway premiership leader Pierre Ng Pang-chi to share the riding honours.