Caspar Fownes retook the lead in the trainers’ championship with a brace at Happy Valley Stadium on Wednesday night, while Zac Purton had to wait at least four more days for his 2,000th Hong Kong win after moving to one of the milestones.
Fownes was tied with Shum on 56 wins after wins by Audacious Pursuit and Elegant Life, but jumped back to the top of the table a second clear of Shum.
With just 13 games left in the season, Mark Newnham is close behind Fownes and Shum on 53 wins while Francis Lui Kin-wai (50) and David Hayes (49) are also in contention.
“We’re trying our best, that’s for sure,” Fownes said.
Joao Moreira had his biggest late-season win since the four-time Valley winner last month, guiding the Fownes pair to victory before closing on Cody Mo Wai-kit’s Lucky McQueen in the first leg of the Grade Four Ciron Handicap (1,200m).
Fownes praised the Brazilian star for his skillful ride on Audacious Pursuit, who used his dream run in the box seat to surge inside leader Withallmyfaith in the final 100m to beat the jockey by a neck in the Grade Four Rhine Handicap (1,650m).
“It was Joao’s perfection to take him to the rail and save ground. When you just win by a small margin, that’s everything, that’s what you need,” Fownes said.
“You need good transport, a good uniform and the rest takes care of itself. That’s why I said the Hong Kong race is very exciting.”
Fownes revealed that Audacious Pursuit suffered a minor mishap on the morning of its Valley debut.
“The amazing part is this morning, this horse spread his shoe and was in a lot of pain, so we had to get the top rider Luke Thompson and my team, along with my riders, to get the shoe and make him comfortable. We have to go to work hard behind the scenes and nobody knows these things,” Fownes said.
“We are all working hard to get him there and when we get that winning result, we can enjoy that special moment.”
Elegant Life secured two important wins for Fownes in the second leg of the Ciron Handicap, producing an impressive change of foot to win his second race of the season.
Parked in the middle of the field with Moreira, he started to move up as the field came out on the back straight and that proved to be the race winner, as the two saved all the ground and emerged with a straight race.
Elegant Life beat Dan Attack in the closing stages by two and a half lengths, suggesting there could be more to come.
“It’s a good feeling. I rode good horses today. I believed it was meant to be because they got good gates,” Moreira said.
“I’m very happy to get the opportunity and take it up.”
Purton cruised to his 2,000th Hong Kong win in the middle of the card when Armor Golden Eagle rode to success in the Sauternes Grade Three Cup (1,650m), but was unable to double up to the prize.
It was easy to secure Armor Golden Eagle’s third win from his last four starts, cruising gently behind the leading pair before unleashing a superb burst midway through the stretch to win by a length and a quarter.
“He was in a good place. It was a carbon copy of the last start, really, in the right place – they put it in well. He’s a good improving horse,” Newnham said.
Meanwhile, apprentice Britney Wong Po-ni picked up her first victory at Happy Valley when Son Pak Fu stormed to victory in the Grade Three Seine Handicap (1,200m), giving trainer Tony Cruz a double in the process.
Sitting towards the back of the pack on the rail throughout, Wong never left the rail in Fighting Sun’s galloper and it looked to be the decision to win, with the inside opening as Red Sea in the straight.
Wong had to be brave when the gap started to close around the 100m pole, but Son Pak Fu had all the speed and took the Gummy Gummy bag close to home by a short header.
It was Cruz’s second race, with Superb Capitalist winning the Grade Three Garonne Handicap (1,000m) under Angus Chung Yik-lai.
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