Francis Lui strikes with Happy Valley treble
Francis Lui accelerated his bid for successive Hong Kong trainers’ championships with a treble at Happy Valley on Wednesday night as Lyle Hewitson and Karis Teetan slotted doubles.
Lui’s title defence gathered impetus with Sweet Briar (Shamexpress), Forever Glorious (Archipenko) and Brave Star’s (Myboycharlie) victories to vault into second place in the standings with four wins behind Danny Shum, who also has four wins but leads overall with more minor placings.
“It’s surprised me to have a few winners. Brave Star likes to run fresh, Sweet Briar was dropping in class and Forever Glorious is an honest horse, but he needs the situation to suit. Hopefully, I can keep going,” Lui said.
While Lui took training honours, Michael Chang claimed the evening’s feature – the Class 2 Deep Water Bay Handicap (1650m) – with Woodfire Bro (Echoes Of Heaven), who was ridden brilliantly by Keith Yeung.
“You cannot believe this, I did not think he could win,” Chang said after Yeung drove Woodfire Bro, now a six-time winner from 24 starts, past Flamingo Trillion (Wandjina) and Red Hare King (So You Think) to give Chang and Yeung their first victories of the season.
Lyle Hewitson attributes a solid start to the 2024/25 Hong Kong season to a brief riding stint in Australia during the summer break after the South African posted a double.
Hewitson had 26 mounts in Australia, riding three winners in Victoria, before returning to Hong Kong where last season he slotted 40 wins to finish eighth in the jockeys’ championship behind seven-time champion Zac Purton.
With a race-to-race double aboard Manfred Man’s Golden Luck (Per Incanto) in the first section of the Class 4 Wong Chuk Hang Handicap (1200m) and Lui’s Sweet Briar in the third section of the Class 4 Wong Chuk Hang Handicap (1200m), Hewitson’s off-season cameo is proving beneficial.
“I had no stress coming back regards to my weight, so I had a clear mind getting back into track work and, of course, I had a base fitness there already,” Hewitson said of the Australian foray. “Having your eye in, too, really works.
“I’m only on three winners so far but last meeting I had three seconds, a third and a fourth and was always in the money. So, it’s proving fruitful and hopefully a springboard for the rest of the season.”
A HK$3.2 million (approx. AU$607,570) purchase at the 2024 Hong Kong International Sale, Perfect General (Zoustar) swept to victory in the second section of the Class 4 Wong Chuk Hang Handicap (1200m) for Caspar Fownes and Hugh Bowman.
“He’s a nice horse, he showed that with his run getting beat down the straight 1000 [metres] (last season) and he came through the summer break very nicely and his work was good leading into this race,” Fownes said.
By Zoustar (Northern Meteor) out of Pins (Snippets) mare Honey Rider, Perfect General surged to the lead under Bowman and eventually fended off Chateauneuf (Fastnet Rock) by a neck in 1m 09.56s.
“I decided to run him at Happy Valley and bring him for some experience for a young horse, so it was good – I’m glad we got a winning result. He relaxed when he got to the front and he’s not a one-style horse,” Fownes said.
“We felt today’s race, looking at the competitors, we thought we had a chance to cross and get to the rail, so I used that for my advantage but, going forward, I think this horse can be ridden anywhere. He’s quite versatile and he’s quite nice.”
Runner-up in last season’s jockeys’ championship to Purton (130) with 86 victories, Karis Teetan fired into action with a brace, landing his first win of this campaign with veteran Happy Tango’s (Eavesdropper) narrow success in the Class 5 Tai Hang Handicap (1000m) for Me Tsui.
“I can’t complain, to be honest – it’s just Hong Kong and I just had to keep my head high and just keep on working,” Teetan said of a frustrating start. “Happy Tango is a tough, old 1000-metre horse and I’m just grateful to Me Tsui and his owners for letting me ride the horse with topweight (135lb) and he dug in nicely, the horse, and got his head down at the right time.”
The Mauritian quickly followed up with success on David Hayes-trained Star Contact (Star Turn) in the Class 3 So Kon Po Handicap (1650m). By Star Turn (Star Witness), Star Contact has won four times over the course and distance.
Andrea Atzeni broke through for his first win of the term with Forever Glorious’ short-head win in the Class 4 Hong Kong Country Club Challenge Cup Handicap (1800m) for Lui.
“It’s always nice to get the monkey off your back,” Atzeni said. “I had a few seconds tonight – I knew I had decent rides coming into the meeting tonight – but you need a bit of luck. It’s nice to get that first win.”
Brave Star provided Lui with the third leg of his treble in landing the Class 3 Island Handicap (1200m) under Vincent Ho.
Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin on Sunday with the running of the Celebration Cup Handicap (Gr 3, 1400m) and the farewell ceremony of champion Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro).