Preparing to partner Helios Express in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (4 February), Hugh Bowman laid the foundation for a successful week with a four-timer at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (31 January).<\/p>
Reviving memories of his blazing start to the season, Bowman triumphed on Hercules, Telecom Speed, Noble Pursuit and Happy Golf to dominate the mid-week card, taking his seasonal tally to 34 to trail only Zac Purton (61) and Karis Teetan (42) in the jockeys\u2019 championship.<\/p>
Bowman slotted a race-to-race double aboard Dennis Yip-trained Hercules in the Class 5 Fleming Handicap (1200m) and Me Tsui\u2019s Telecom Speed in the second section of the Class 4 Jaffe Handicap (1200m) in a confidence-building display before scoring with Noble Pursuit for Caspar Fownes in the Class 4 Luard Handicap (1650m).<\/p>
\u201cA four-timer, it\u2019s been a good night,\u201d Bowman said after Frankie Lor-trained Happy Golf landed the first section of the Class 4 Jaffe Handicap (1200m). \u201cI had good rides. Happy Golf is the only one that really drew a good marble (barrier two) and I was able to get him into a nice rhythm. I\u2019ve had a good association with him \u2013 that\u2019s my third win on him.<\/p>
\u201cWith the others, I had some sticky draws. The horses have all run very well. Noble Pursuit, who was tardy away last time, I thought that if he jumped better, I could take the gamble and be handier in position up in trip and the gamble paid off.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s a horse with, in my opinion, a class edge on tonight\u2019s opposition but that said, he\u2019s still got some learning to do. He\u2019s won with authority, but I think there\u2019s more in store. Telecom Speed did a really good job and so did the first one, Hercules. It\u2019s nice.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Noble Pursuit surges clear.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Bowman will reunite with Helios Express on Sunday when the 102-rater contests the first leg of the HK$52 million Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which also features the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 3 March and the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 24 March.<\/p>
\u201cHe (Helios Express) looks well placed and I\u2019m looking forward to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>
Fownes extended his lead in the Happy Valley standings when Nicconi County gave the \u2018King of the Valley\u2019 his 19th winner of the season at the city circuit and 27th overall by winning the first section of the Class 3 Lockhart Handicap (1200m) for Teetan, who then advanced to a brace when David Hayes-trained Tomodachi Kokoroe easily won the second section of the Class 4 Lockhart Handicap (1200m) under 135lb to climb into Class 2.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6682″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Ricky Yiu\u2019s Simply Maverick, a nominee for the BMW Hong Kong Derby, showcased his talent with a tough win in the Class 3 O\u2019Brien Handicap (1650m), scoring emphatically despite covering ground under Andrea Atzeni.<\/p>
By Sebring, Simply Maverick has won three of his last four starts over Happy Valley\u2019s 1650m course.<\/p>
Chris So-trained Golden Fairy broke through at his 14th start to snare the Class 5 Fenwick Handicap (2200m) under a precise Alexis Badel ride before Circuit Seven won the Class 4 Hong Kong Football Club Centenary Cup Handicap (1000m) for Cody Mo under Matthew Poon.<\/p>
Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin on Sunday (4 February) with the running of the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) and G3 Centenary Vase Handicap (1800m).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6680″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Preparing to partner Helios Express in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (4 February), Hugh Bowman laid the foundation for a successful week with a four-timer at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (31 January).Reviving memories of his blazing start to the season, Bowman triumphed… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":6683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6677"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6677"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6684,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6677\/revisions\/6684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/million-challenge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}