Galaxy Patch roars to last-gasp Group 3 Lion Rock Trophy victory
Galaxy Patch (Wandjina) scored a win full of merit in Sunday’s Lion Rock Trophy Handicap (Gr 3, 1600m) at Sha Tin for Vincent Ho and Pierre Ng.
Knuckling down late for a courageous and deserving victory, Galaxy Patch – under a daring Ho drive – skimmed the rail to deny Francis Lui’s Chancheng Glory (Mor Spirit) by a nose in a gripping finish as 2.3 favourite in 1m 33.93s (25.21, 23.63, 23.24, 21.85).
“He deserves this win, it was just a bit risky because when I went inside Lyle [Hewitson on Chancheng Glory] sort of went out and then when I came through, he moved in a bit – I lost my momentum a little bit,” Ho said.
Second in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (Gr 1, 1400m) and Hong Kong Derby (Listed, 2000m) this season, Galaxy Patch is now a five-time winner in Hong Kong with earnings of HK$19.78 million (approx. AU$3.79m) across 11 starts.
“I always had faith in Galaxy Patch. He’s shown at Group 1 level, just behind Golden Sixty, and he didn’t really like the wet track as well,” Ho said, referencing the horse’s fifth placing on yielding ground in the Champions Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) on Champions Day.
Ng hopes the star four-year-old can maintain his ascent which has seen him climb to a career-high rating of 106 before Sunday’s win: “I just never know how good he will be, but definitely a top one.”
“The horse has got a very big heart and he managed to overcome that [small gap], so it’s quite a promising win. It’s a special horse who does that and the rider – of course, Vincent has the experience to do that as well.”
Beauty Joy (Sebring) placed third, while fellow Ng trainee Taj Dragon (Mehmas) crossed the line in fourth. Locked in a fierce battle with Francis Lui for the trainers’ championship, Ng leads his former mentor 61-60 after his double.
Galaxy Patch may race one more time this season in the Premier Plate Handicap (1800m) at Sha Tin on June 23.
“We might have a go at the 1800 metres. We need to see how he goes across the next week or two. Hopefully it doesn’t get much hotter than today, so we’ll wait and see,” Ng said.
Ng’s double began with Super Bonus (Bungle Inthejungle), who collected the second section of the Class 4 Shing Mun River Channel Handicap (1200m) under Andrea Atzeni.
Lui put the pressure on Ng early when King Miles (Exceed And Excel) returned his second career win by claiming the first section of the Class 4 Tolo Harbour Handicap (1400m) under Ho.
Atzeni later capped a brace of his own when Handsome Bomb (Belardo) prevailed in the second section of the Class 4 Tolo Harbour Handicap (1400m) for Chris So.
Young Superstar (Press Statement) made an impressive start to life in Hong Kong. The former Singapore-trained runner arrived as a one-time winner at Kranji. He now races for the HKJC Racing Club Limited, winning the Class 3 Fo Tan Handicap (1200m) first-up for Angus Chung and Tony Cruz.
“That was very impressive. He was really impressive in Singapore as well, I thought he wasn’t ready yet, maybe 70 or 80 per cent fit. He beat good horses, including James Tak, it surprised me, honestly,” Chung said.
“He will be a good horse, I think, he has a good heart. He can be a little bit awkward out of the barriers, but he jumped well today. I think he’ll be very good in the future.”
Keefy (All Too Hard) netted his first win since 2022 in the Class 2 Penfold Park Handicap (1400m) for Karis Teetan and Frankie Lor.
The victory commenced a treble for Teetan as Ka Ying Rising claimed the Sha Tin Vase Handicap (Gr 3, 1200m) for David Hayes after Lucy In The Sky (No Nay Never) scored impressively under the rider in the first section of the Class 4 Shing Mun River Channel Handicap (1200m) for Me Tsui, who now has 13 wins for the campaign.
Michael Chang edged to 15 wins this term when Lost Child (Swiss Ace) powered to a classy success in the Class 3 Kau To Shan Handicap (1400m) under Ben Thompson.
The Concentration (Hellbent) surprised at odds of 30-1 in the Class 5 Ma Liu Shui Handicap under Luke Ferraris for Ricky Yiu, while Happy Hero (Pierro) rolled to a third win by taking the Class 5 Sha Tin Hoi Handicap (2000m) for Mark Newnham and Hewitson.