Francis Lui produced a timely treble at Sunday’s (17 May) Sha Tin meeting to fire himself into contention in one of the most hotly contested trainers’ championships in memory.
Lui was the only handler among the leading five to score, and with 16 meetings left in the season, the hat-trick lifted him into fourth spot on 50 wins, behind championship leader Danny Shum (54), Mark Newnham (52) and Caspar Fownes (51). David Hayes has 48 wins, while defending champion John Size has 46.
Lui’s first win came in the first section of the Class 4 Luk Wu Handicap (1200m) when Zac Purton piloted Superb Spirit (127lb) to victory to inch closer to his 2,000-win milestone. Three-year-old Superb Spirit made good on the promise displayed in a series of trial wins and a debut fourth in April to overhaul Lucrative Eight (129lb) late on.
“(Superb Spirit) is a nice horse,” Lui said. “In the future, I think he will stay further as he has a big stride. Hopefully, he can be a Classic Mile horse in time.”
The 2023/24 Hong Kong Champion Trainer then combined with Vincent Ho to claim a race-to-race double and the meeting’s trophy contest, the Class 3 Hong Kong Lions Cup Handicap (1200m), as Thunder Kit (124lb) got off the mark in Hong Kong after a series of near misses.
“He’s still green,” Lui said. “But the more he races, the more he matures.
“If you look at his form, he seems to have potential.”
The hat-trick was completed when Meaningful Dragon (131lb) became the biggest-priced winner of the day, scoring at odds of 15/1 under Luke Ferraris, to scoop the first section of the Class 4 Lung Fu Shan Handicap (1400m).
“I told Luke to be positive,” Lui said. “It doesn’t matter whether he is two-wide or three-wide, he keeps trying and fighting.
“It’s getting exciting, the championship is so competitive, and I will just try to keep my horses performing,” Lui added.
Jamie Richards ground out a hard-earned victory when Purton, who claimed two wins at the meeting, delivered a dominant win aboard Lahore (122lb) in the Class 4 Cheung Shan Handicap (1000m). Lahore, who has struggled with fitness issues during his short career, finally broke through at the 11th attempt, providing Richards with his 22nd winner of the season.
“It was frustrating that he bled,” Richards said. “But to still run as well as he did is nice. If we could get him back and not have too many (fitness) issues with him, then we were confident we could get him back in form.”
The New Zealander made it 23 seasonal winners when Romantic Fantasy (116lb) finally repaid the patience of connections to land the Class 4 Port Shelter Handicap (1800m) under Alexis Badel.
It had been well over two years since the six-year-old’s maiden win – when he was under the care of Danny Shum. The Irish-bred had threatened a win recently and endured a spell of four second-place finishes earlier this season, leading Richards to proclaim, “finally!” before discussing the horse’s progress.
“It’s nice to get a win with the horse, he’s been knocking on the door,” Richards said. “He’s earned some good prizemoney for his owners, but I was quietly confident he was ready to run well today with a bit of cut in the ground.
“He got a nice ride from Alexis, and everything went well. He’s a typical European horse that’s just needed a long time to acclimatise.”
Enjoy Golf (129lb) capped improving form with victory in the Class 5 Eagle’s Nest Handicap (1200m) for Frankie Lor. The Harry Bentley-ridden gelding had gone close several times before breaking through this season.
Lor talked of his frustration with the misfiring five-year-old. “This horse, he’s been quite disappointing. You can see in Class 4 he’s been tried over 1200m, 1400m, 1600m – sometimes he leads in front, sometimes he sits behind the leader – he still does not show too much,” Lor said.
Nichola Yuen struck in an attritional Class 5 Buffalo Hill Handicap (1800m) aboard Pierre Ng’s On The Lash (121lb), before Run Run Smart (125lb) provided her with her second win of the day; the Lor-trained galloper delivering a front-running effort in the second section of the Class 4 Lung Fu Shan Handicap (1400m).
“Nichola’s claim definitely helped,” Lor said. “He’s an easy horse who can jump and lead. He seemed to like the wet track, and he’s become more consistent with age.
“He will have to go up to Class 3 next time, and I will have to ask Nichola if she can ride him again!
“I had 46 winners last season, and I’m on 37 now, so I still want more.”
Cody Mo-trained Little Monster (120lb) dug deep to outlast Lor’s Better And Better (123lb) in a thrilling finish to the second section of the Class 4 Luk Wu Handicap (1200m), and Chris So saddled his 25th winner of the season when Perfectday (126lb) prevailed in the first section of the Class 3 Siu Ma Shan Handicap (1400m) under James Orman.
Size kept his fading hopes of a title defence alive by taking out the card-closer, the second section of the Class 3 Siu Ma Shan Handicap (1400m) with Brilliant Express scoring his fourth career win under Hugh Bowman, and his first in well over a year.
Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday (20 May).