A victory for Duke Wai (NZ) (Per Incanto) in Hong Kong on Sunday has trainer Pierre Ng hoping a invitation to the Gr.1 Al Quoz Sprint on 25 March in Dubai could be a possibility.
“If we get an invitation from Dubai, we’ll go to Dubai. I would love to see him run in a straight 1200m race because, in the past, he’s run very well in straight 1000m races here, but there’s no straight 1200m races here,” Ng said of the seven-year-old, who took his career earnings to beyond HK$18 million with his ninth win from 42 starts.
Given an uncomplicated run from barrier one under Jerry Chau, Duke Wai claimed leader Nervous Witness in the last 100m before fending off Courier Wonder to win by half a length.
“He got the inside draw this time. Jerry knows him well. He just had to wake him up in the early stages and let him travel. Around the bend until the 300m, he was travelling quite strongly, and he finished off very well. After the race, Jerry told me Courier Wonder was never going to get past him,” Ng said.
“I have ridden this horse before and I know this horse. I was very lucky to get the position I did today and the horse travelled very well. I let him balance in the straight and the visor helped him a lot when he took the lead – he never wanted to stop,” Chau said.
Duke Wai was sold by breeders Waikato Stud at the 2016 Weanling Sale to Hallmark Stud who then sold him at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Select Sale for $45,000 to Argonaut Racing.
Other New Zealand bred winners at Sha Tin on Sunday were Chiron (Makfi), Colonel (NZ) (Ferlax), Darci Joy (NZ) (Darci Brahma), Everyone’s Delight (NZ) (El Roca), & Ching (NZ) (Frosted).
