Pierre Ng reclaimed the ascendancy in the rollercoaster tussle for the 2023/24 Hong Kong trainers’ championship with a crucial double at Sha Tin on Monday to edge two wins clear of Francis Lui.
With only four meetings left in the season, Ng leads Lui 67-65 after Alexis Badel piloted Gangnam Star (NZ) (Telperion) to victory in the Class 5 Uncompromising Integrity Handicap (1400m) and Super Bonus (Bungle Inthejungle) won the Class 4 Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup Handicap (1200m) under Andrea Atzeni.
“Brilliant. I’m quite happy. At this stage, I just have to keep going. Hopefully we get more winners in the next few meetings,” Ng said of the championship standings.
“Andrea told me he lost his iron out of the gates (on Super Bonus), so luckily picked it back up. Luckily the pace wasn’t that fast – they did the first section in 24.35s, which is quite easy for him to roll along.
“He was three-wide all the way, but he’s made improvement. He used to just stop or want to get away from horses in the straight, but now he’s more straightforward and finishes off hard.”
Gangnam Star triumphed at his 12th start.
“He took a bit of time to get his first win. He was very difficult from the start when he came to Hong Kong, so he needed time to get settled down. When we tried to run him (last October), he had a heart problem, so then we had to step back again and start him later on,” Ng said.
“It’s good that he can find some confidence today to hit the front because he’s a thinker – he’s always thinking what to do and what not to do. He won well.”
While Ng shared training honours with Chris So, Lyle Hewitson snared a treble with wins on So-trained pair Flying High (Office Bearer) and Parterre (Flower Alley) before saluting on Michael Chang’s Ching (NZ) (Frosted) in the Class 3 Better Future Handicap (1600m).
“Just really happy, I came to the meeting thinking I had a decent book,” Hewitson said. “I didn’t think there was a standout but the cards fell in my favour and everything worked out really well.
“To cap it off with Ching was great. He’s been a special horse to me in Hong Kong and, like Chris So’s horses, Ching was beautifully prepared and I was the lucky recipient.”
Zac Purton logged a brace on a pair of promising talents – Bottomuptogether (Shamus Award), who is unbeaten after three starts following his searing win in the Class 3 Sportsmanship Handicap (1200m) and Amazing Fun (NZ) (Tivaci), who made an impressive debut with success in the Class 4 Racing Goes On Handicap (1000m) for Dennis Yip.
Ridden quietly by Purton, Tivaci gelding Amazing Fun clocked 56.22s up the straight course.
“He’s got ability, this horse. Early in the season I trialled him and he was very good but at that stage he didn’t relax,” Yip said. “After that he was ready to race, but he got injured. I put him in Conghua and told my son to teach him to relax in the morning.
“The horse is now very relaxed and it’s lucky this race was there for him. When he passed the other horses, Zac said he didn’t know what to do and the horse was looking around a bit. He needs time to keep improving.”
