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| Staff Writer |
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In a stunning debut, Rachel King rode a winner during her first-ever Hong Kong ride. Meanwhile, Danny Shum Chap-shing celebrated his 800th city victory as a trainer, beaming with joy at Wednesday night's Happy Valley meeting.
King had already made waves in the World All-Star Jockeys series in Japan in August and continued her impressive streak by triumphing in the first leg of the Longines International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) aboard Oversubscribed.
“I had to pinch myself halfway up the straight because my little horse just travelled into it super,” King said.
“The only thing was I thought I might’ve gone too soon, but he was strong late, and it was great to kick off the night like that.
“He was a beautiful ride. He showed me around the track, which was probably the perfect start to riding here at Happy Valley. A big thanks to David Hall for giving me the opportunity.”
Despite starting off strong with early points, King was unable to capitalize on her performance and finished in ninth place while riding To Infinity. She later finished in seventh place atop Star Contact and in third place aboard Toronado Phantom, ultimately placing third in the IJC.
However, it is worth noting that she did manage to become only the second female rider, after Hollie Doyle, to win an IJC race. During the race, King skillfully led Oversubscribed to a quick start from gate five before settling just off the pace, eventually unleashing the 8YO in the home straight.
“He’s a very consistent horse around this track and distance, so I’m not surprised,” Hall said. “It’s just nice to win on these nights. Rachel’s [representing Australia] and we’ve combined together, so it’s a happy moment.
“When he lobbed in the one-one, I thought ‘oh, wow’. I was probably expecting him to be a little bit further back than that, but the track is probably favouring a little bit on pace. Being in that spot, you knew he was always going to have a kick, and he was good enough to get the job done.”
Shum achieved his 800th Hong Kong win in other races on the card as Helene Feeling won the Class Two Japan Handicap guided by James McDonald. Meanwhile, Jerry Chau Chun-lok rode Nice Birdie to victory in the Class Five France Handicap.
Pierre Ng Pang-chi also continued his impressive streak by winning for a tenth consecutive meeting, with Healthy Healthy holding off a late challenge to take the Class Four Great Britain Handicap.
“To be winning at 10 meetings in a row is a Cinderella thing to us,” Ng said. “The stable has done a really good job on all of the horses, and I hope we can keep going.”
At a steady pace, Zac Purton and Healthy Healthy kept a close eye on the leader, and managed to take the lead just 150m from the finish line. In doing so, they narrowly prevented Ernest Feeling from achieving a hat-trick.
“It’s still two or three months before I think about the title,” Ng said. “There’s still a lot of time for other trainers to come at us very hard.”
Luke Ferraris took an enterprising front-running approach in the opener, resulting in a well-deserved win for Diamond Flare in the Class Five Australia Handicap. Despite being heavily favored and backed in from US$18 to US$7.5 just before the race, Ferraris held his lead and secured a victory by a neck. This win marked Mark Newnham's seventh win of the season.
“I used to train this horse in Australia, and it’s nice to get a win for those owners, because they’ve supported me right from the start,” Newnham said.
The standout victory of the evening was achieved by Simply Maverick, trained by Ricky Yiu Poon-fai. In the Class Four Germany Handicap, Simply Maverick pulled away from the competition and crossed the finish line with an impressive lead of four and three-quarter lengths.
“He’s improving physically and mentally, and he’s a progressive horse,” Yiu said. “I expected him to do well and maybe win, but not in this style.”