Caspar Fownes needs a strong showing from one of the leading lights of his stable in Sunday’s (12 October) feature race at Sha Tin, as he looks to stop Mark Newnham pulling away in the trainers’ championship race.
The 58-year-old handler fields two runners in the Class 2 Shing Mun Handicap (1200m): Dancing Code (130lb), owned by Cantopop icon Aaron Kwok, and Sky Trust (121lb), a last-start winner.
Fownes-indentured apprentice Ellis Wong was in the saddle for each of the runners’ last victories, but the four-time champion trainer has opted to make use of his five-pound claim on Dancing Code.
“Nice horse, lovely owner, and the horse has been racing very consistently,” said Fownes, whose seven winners for the season leave him three behind the in-form Newnham.
“We’ve got Ellis on top to take five pounds off. The horse runs well for him, and I’ve kept him very fresh for this race. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t run a good competitive race.”
Fownes is right to eke out every advantage he can; Dancing Code once again goes up against the David Hayes-trained Tomodachi Kokoroe (133lb), who has bettered him three times in their five meetings to date.
Never in that sequence was the seven-year-old son of Written Tycoon more impressive than when he trounced the field in a Class 2 record 1200m time of 1m 07.76s on turf at Sha Tin two weeks ago, a showing that earned him a 10lb penalty from the handicapper.
“The last start, Mr Hayes’ horse beat us very convincingly. Obviously, there’s a little bit of difference in the handicap this time. So hopefully we can get closer to him and beat him,” Fownes said.
The consistent Tomodachi Kokoroe will once again be piloted by Harry Bentley, who, remarkably, suggested the horse had more in hand after that display.
“He was training really well beforehand, and his trials had been good, so I was certainly expecting a big performance, but you never expect them to do it in quite that fashion,” Bentley said.
“He jumped well. I got him into a really nice position – exactly where I wanted him to be – in the box-seat, and he took me into the race extremely well. I felt like I had everyone covered, so I didn’t push the button until I really needed to, and even then, I didn’t go full-bore. So, yeah, there was a bit left in the tank and it certainly gave me a great feel.”
On recent form, Fownes’ other runner, Sky Trust (121lb), is capable of upsetting the two. Up in class after a devastating display at Sha Tin last month, the son of So You Think goes from the foot of the weights.
“He was very impressive. He got a big penalty – he got 10 points for that, so that took him out of the class,” Fownes said. “He’s got a wide draw (nine), so it’s going to be tough for him, but winning form is good form.”
A fifth career win for the improving five-year-old could mean a first Hong Kong winner for British rider David Probert, who takes the reins from Wong.
“He’s a good lad. He’s riding well. He just needs a little bit of luck, and hopefully the winner will come soon,” Fownes added.
Sunday’s (12 October) 10-race fixture at Sha Tin gets underway at 1pm with the Class 5 Chai Wan Kok Handicap (1200m).