Jockey Karis Teetan was in hot form at Sha Tin on Wednesday winning three on the card, two aboard New Zealand-bred gallopers.
Goldie Flanker (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle) flashed home to seal Teetan’s second win of the evening in section one of the Class 4 Kiu Tsui Handicap (1200m).
The son of Rip Van Winkle had to work hard to reel in the Moreira-ridden Excel Delight but the 9/1 shot was up to the task and edged the 1.8 favourite by a short-head.
“He’s an old horse and he knows the track, he’s been around a while and he dug down hard to win today,” Teetan said.
“I’ve won on him before and he likes that fast pace where he gets to the outside and runs them down, but I thought I maybe wasn’t going to catch the second horse.
“I got closed up before the run into the straight but he was in good shape, and for him to recover and kick again was impressive.”
It was a night for late-closers and Mongolian King (NZ) (Sufficient) maintained that trend to the last with a powerful late charge in the final race.
Derek Leung aboard Kings Shield looked to have the Class 2 Cheung Sha Handicap (1650m) in the palm of his hand as he led the 14 runners into the straight and kicked a couple of lengths clear. But Karis Teetan was already starting to roll on Mongolian King.
The Me Tsui-trained seven-year-old son of Sufficient reduced the deficit through a powerful stretch run that pegged the weakening leader inside the final 50m. The winning margin was a length and a quarter in a time of 1m 37.91s.
“I saw the second horse kick in the straight, but I could feel this horse was unwinding and I knew he was going to be strong at the end,” Teetan said.
“The pace was on so everything was set-up for him to have a good run. He was very comfortable on the inside and as soon as we hit the 600m point he started travelling nicely into it and he won well.”
Mongolian King has been in great form this campaign finishing runner-up in four of his last five starts.
