Ricky Yiu Poon-fai celebrated a four-time great at Sha Tin on Saturday, led by his exciting prospect Victor Supreme who made a statement in the Grade Four IP Journal Handicap (1,800m).
The son of Super Seth performed well to win by four and a half lengths against Firefoot with Vincent Ho Chak-yiu in the saddle.
Yiu is eyeing next season’s Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) with a three-year-old enjoying the distance for the first time.
“He won by a reasonable margin – I thought he had a chance to win by maybe a length or two, but not in this fashion! I’m surprised,” Yiu said.
“He’s an up-and-comer and a long-distance horse, even a mile is a little bit tough. I think over a mile – 1,800m, 2,000m – he’ll be one of the Derby contenders. When the first stage of the Derby opens, I’ll put him in. The way he looks, he’ll be a good stayer.”
Yiu enjoyed two of his four wins in tandem with Zac Purton, courtesy of Rising Force and Lucrative Eight.
Rising Force added to his impressive Sha Tin record with a fifth win and first at Grade Two level in the Li Cup (1,200m).
After a quick jump, the Deep Field team went straight into the lead and controlled the race, thanks to a superb steer from Purton, to beat Pakistan Legacy by one and a quarter lengths.
“That was a really good performance by Purton, he ran a really good race. He jumped out of the gate like a bullet and that’s a big plus. He’s a very versatile horse; he’s sharp, he’s got natural gate speed – your typical sprinter,” Yiu said.
Lucrative Eight kept Road To Glory by a length for third when he emerged victorious in the Grade Four Chow Silver Plate (1,200m). The three-year-old child has shown enough potential, despite having a temper tantrum.
“He was very naughty going to the doors,” Purton said.
“He is very young, he can be even better next season in the blink of an eye. He has done a good job, he has been consistent and I think next season he will show his best.”
The Foxwedge team sat behind the leader after a strong start from the first barrier and looked in danger of not running when badly held until 200m, however it exploded when the gap appeared to give Yiu a straight win with two promising three-year-olds in 30 minutes.
“It was a very brave race for the young man, he came through the gap very strongly. For now I will keep him in the 1,200m, until I think the 1,400m is needed,” Yiu said.
Chill Easy finished fourth on the way back in the Grade Three Lee Trophy (1,400m), piloted by Jerry Chau Chun-lok. The pair overcame the steepest hurdle of 14 with a top weight of 133 pounds to win by an easy two and a quarter lengths over Endeared thanks to a positive ride from Chau.
Elsewhere on the card, Frankie Lor Fu-chuen unleashed Hong Kong’s first stablemate, who pushed his rivals to win by five and a quarter lengths in the Philip Chen Grade Three (1,200m) with Alexis Badel aboard.
“I knew he seemed like a great horse and a great guy,” Badel said.
“He’s done everything right in the morning, so I was very confident from the second gate. I didn’t plan to lead but he started well and I put him on the rail, he used his pace. He’s got a lot of speed, a lot of pace and I was surprised to see that he was a maiden in Australia, but he’s obviously a good horse.”
Francis Lui Kin-wai, John Size and Ethan Brown also enjoyed doubles on Saturday, with Brown winning for both trainers.
“It’s a great way to end the season. I’m getting a lot of support and I’m excited to perform and show them what I can do,” Brown said.
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