Ricky Yiu Poon-fai hopes in-form jockey Jerry Chau Chun-lok can “bring some fresh ideas” into Voyage Bubble as last season’s Triple Crown hero bids for a comeback in Monday’s Group Two Chairman’s Stakes (1,600m) at Sha Tin.
The six-time Group One winner became the first horse since River Verdon in 1994 to claim the Triple Crown and showed he was better than ever this campaign with a convincing victory in the Group One Hong Kong Mile in December.
Subsequent races have been slightly below his best, however, and his most recent run in the Group One Gold Cup (2,000m), where he was chased fifth of six behind Romantic Warrior, was one of the most disappointing of his career.
Perhaps surprisingly, Yiu has chosen to go a different route than his star stablemate and has called Chau into the saddle, and hopes a fresh perspective can help Voyage Bubble return to its glory days from the third shop.
“He’s a horse that I often couldn’t fault – he’s never wrong,” Yiu said. “He’s had trials since his last start and I couldn’t say a bad thing about him – even the jockey, who is a stranger to him, really likes him.
“I told Jerry ‘he’s not a hard ride, it’s very easy’. The main reason I put Jerry in is because he’s a young jockey coming up and at the same time, maybe he can inject new ideas into the horse.
“Perhaps pleasing him more than a mile wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
Yiu has urged Chau to further study Voyage Bubble’s run in last season’s Gold Cup, where he overcame adversity in the run to win the second leg of the Triple Crown.
“His most memorable run last season was in the Gold Cup; he tripped a lot in the last corner and that put him behind the midfield in a bad position,” Yiu said.
“He still managed to come home strong and this was the race that I stressed to Jerry to have good research.”
Yiu also rides Sunlight Power in the Group Two contest, who narrowly missed out on the Group Two Jockey Club Mile earlier this campaign and will leave barrier eight under Vincent Ho Chak-yiu.
“He seems to be playing the second line at the moment, but he’s always close. I wouldn’t mind if they win of course; I can see him running well too,” Yiu said.
Yiu has a strong team assembled for Monday’s card, with Packing Glory looking to stake a unique claim in the Grade Three Harlech Handicap (1,400m) from barrier three.
“I told the jockey afterwards that he rode the horse a bit upside down – it was his first time at 1,400 meters and he hit the front very quickly and was one quick at the end,” Yiu said.
“This time, I will ask Matthew (Chadwick) to put the midfielder behind the main speed. That will give him more time to recover his energy.”
Yiu also lets Rapid Phantom, Victor Supreme, Lucrative Eight and Mighty Strength loose on a big day for the gaming company.
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