Danny Shum Chap-shing dominated Happy Valley with a four-timer on Wednesday night, while Hugh Bowman continued his Hong Kong Derby winning form with three goals.
Shum took 41 wins for the season and finished third in the trainers’ championship, just two wins behind leader Caspar Fownes and one behind Mark Newnham.
Returning second in the jockeys’ championship, Bowman took his win tally to 44 for the season after a quiet spell before victory in last Sunday’s Derby aboard Invincible Ibis.
“It goes in cycles. You have quiet periods, and you have good periods, and it was special to win the Derby,” Bowman said.
“I felt like in the last month I’ve only had kind of one or two good rides at the meet, but I felt like coming into this Wednesday night and next Sunday, I have a lot of cars that are capable of thinking at the end. It’s a lot easier to focus on those days when you know ahead of time that they’re coming.”
Bowman’s treble included Motor, Beauty Viva and Joyful Prosperity. Motor started at odds of $15.75 but defied expectations as he sped up to topple $1.7 favorite King Profit at the line in the third leg of the Grade Four Kwai Chung Handicap (1,200m).
The son of Fastnet Rock emerged as a winning contender over the 150m and duly saluted on his debut at Happy Valley.
“I thought Motor was a really good chance, actually. He gave me the impression of a horse that could win a race very quickly when he’s been unlucky in Sha Tin recently, so that was quite satisfying,” Bowman said.
The Tony Cruz-trained Mrembo Viva enjoyed her first win in Hong Kong when she took the second leg of the Grade Four Tsuen Wan Handicap (1,650m) after being given a good ride from the first hurdle by Bowman.
Bowman believes the switch to the city circuit is just what the five-year-old needed.
“He’s a horse I’ve ridden in the last two starts. Tony said, ‘I might try Happy Valley’, so I thought that might just spur him on because I feel like he’s got a lot more talent than his form suggests. I thought he ran with more purpose today – so that could be the start of his rise,” Bowman said.
Shum started the night by taking the first two races with Joyful Prosperity and Win Method, and went on to dominate the night with Jerry Chau Chun-lok who rode a two-race lead on Without Compare and My Day My Way.
A sustained run saw Joyful Prosperity claim the Grade Five Tuen Mun Handicap (2,200m), with the Japanese-bred sprinter able to turn his form around by dropping down in class and moving up in distance for the first time this season.
Win Method made it back-to-back wins for Shum when taking the first leg of the Class Four Tsuen Wan Handicap. The three-year-old won the first 800m where he was able to bounce back from the front and race home strongly from the turn.
Shum is looking forward to seeing how the Written Tycoon galloper fares with age and distance.
“His body weight is back to where I wanted it to be. He goes well at 1,650 meters and can even go over 1,800 meters. As a four-year-old he will be even better. He could have a bright future at Happy Valley,” Shum said.
A mid-race move from Chau saw Unmatched loop the field, find the front and fight hard to close by a neck from Keefy.
My Day My Way took advantage of Amazing Kid being caught three wide and went after him in the final sprint, finishing up by a neck from Greater Bae.
Elsewhere, Giant Ballon put in another top form as he made it three goals with Zac Purton on the scoreboard for Douglas Whyte, who was delighted with his back-to-back wins.
“I think he’s got a lot of confidence from that last win and obviously Zac knows him. He’s come on, he’s improved, and he showed that tonight. He’s a good young horse in the pack,” Whyte said.
“He won well last time, but I didn’t think he’d win by that margin today. He’s done a good job – he’s a very capable horse.”
Purton also made it two wins after an earlier win for Honest Witness, whose partners were looking forward to victory in their black and green colors after a long time between drinks.
Arthur Antonio da Silva, who also owned the legendary Silent Witness, was delighted to be back in the winner’s circle once again.
“I’ve waited two and a half years for a winner with my famous colors. It’s been a long time since Nervous Witness won; we’ve been very unlucky,” da Silva said.
“Zac told me that this horse has no confidence and needs a rail. He got the rail today, he led by two and a half lengths in the straight and he jumped. I’m very happy.”
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