Crowning a phenomenal week for trainer Mark Newnham, Invincible Ibis (126lb) vindicated Hugh Bowman\u2019s faith with a record-breaking triumph in the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (22 March).<\/p>\r\n
Clocking 1m 59.43s, the Hellbent gelding eclipsed Massive Sovereign\u2019s mark of 1m 59.85s, set in 2024, in defeating Numbers \u2013 who tried to lead all the way \u2013 by one-and-a-quarter lengths with Stormy Grove a luckless third, a further short head away.<\/p>\r\n
Owned by the Ibis Syndicate, Invincible Ibis was given a perfect, ground-saving ride by Bowman to justify the Australian\u2019s confidence in the bay, who had finished sixth to Little Paradise in the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) and second to Stormy Grove in the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m).<\/p>\r\n
Celebrating his third BMW Hong Kong Derby victory after triumphs with Werther in 2016 and Furore in 2019, Bowman was elated to have teamed with Newnham, who saddled five winners at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (18 March).<\/p>\r\n
\u201cThe dream was always there but you have to stick with the process and after the Mile, I was very doubtful whether he (Invincible Ibis) was going to be able to bring it together, but I took a lot of confidence out of the 1800m. I thought he was one of five realistic winning chances,\u201d Bowman said.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”16004″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Settling midfield behind Numbers and Seraph Gabriel after jumping smoothly from barrier three, Invincible Ibis was given the run of the race by a patient Bowman, who bided his time until the field straightened before emerging to challenge Numbers.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cAs we started to come round the home turn, I thought \u2018I\u2019m in business here, I really am\u2019,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cThe run was economical, so when I brought him to the outside and let him down, it was no surprise that he went the way that he did and I\u2019m very proud of him. It means a lot to win the race for a third time and being based here now, and it makes it a bit more special for some reason or other.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cThank you to Mark and the team for preparing this horse in such magnificent order. He really did peak this afternoon, and the distance was a query, no doubt about it, but he came through with flying colours.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cHe just gave me the sweetest ride throughout the entire trip. We were aided by a good draw, of course, but the horse won with authority and I\u2019m so proud to have won my third BMW Hong Kong Derby.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”16003″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Denied a short head by Cap Ferrat with My Wish in last season\u2019s BMW Hong Kong Derby, Newnham was ecstatic after experiencing a wildly contrasting experience to 2025.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cThe complete opposite to last year, that\u2019s for sure. It was just a really smooth race to watch. If I could have picked a position prior to the race, it would have been midfield one off in a consistent speed and Hugh got into that position early,\u201d Newnham said.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cAt the corner it was just going to be \u2018Is he good enough?\u2019 And probably a furlong (200m) into the straight, I was pretty confident he was going to be strong late.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Newnham will now consider a FWD Champions Day start for Invincible Ibis in either the HK$24 million G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) or the HK$30 million G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) on 26 April.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be looking at that (FWD Champions Day) as long as his recovery\u2019s good from today,\u201d Newnham said. \u201cBut I\u2019m probably more inclined to run him in the Mile. I just don\u2019t think taking on Romantic Warrior and a few of the internationals at 2000m, I don\u2019t think he\u2019s seasoned enough for that yet, despite his win today and the time he\u2019s run.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cHe\u2019s beating horses of his own age group, so I don\u2019t think we need to throw him to the wolves just yet \u2013 horses can have a long career here, so there\u2019s no need to be testing him too much beyond his limits.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Frankie Lor, trainer of minor place-getters Numbers and Stormy Grove, said: \u201cYou can see the time was quick, so maybe if he (Numbers) had a better draw (than 13) he could have had an easier time earlier on and set his own pace.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still run a very good race, and he kept rolling the whole way. (Stormy Grove) did a very quick time to finish the race, 22.71s, so he was only a little bit too far back. On another day, it could have been different.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Invincible Ibis lands the 149th BMW Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Little Paradise, who started 3.8 favourite, over-raced and finished ninth.<\/p>\r\n
The undercard was dominated by exciting rising talent with four three-year-old geldings winning four of the first six races, with Too Darn Hot\u2019s Hot Delight, Deep Field\u2019s Mega Mastermind, Biouvac\u2019s Absolute Heart and Ardrossan gelding Gold Patch prevailing.<\/p>\r\n
Hot Delight (128lb) maintained a perfect record with a third successive win to give Francis Lui his 500th victory on Sha Tin turf with success in the Class 3 Werther Handicap (1200m) under Vincent Ho in 1m 08.19s \u2013 only marginally outside of Victor The Winner\u2019s Class record mark of 1m 08.11s.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cHe\u2019s (Hot Delight) a nice horse, we know that. But he\u2019s only three, so we want to excel as much as possible, but we also want to keep him for his four-year-old season, so it was a nice run,\u201d Ho said.<\/p>\r\n
Lui said: \u201cGood horse, he\u2019s a very good horse and honest. Even in trackwork he\u2019s showed he\u2019s improved.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”16002″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Lui also struck with Gold Patch (133lb) under Zac Purton in the Class 4 Sky Darci Handicap (1200m).<\/p>\r\n
Jamie Richards and Brenton Avdulla combined with Mega Mastermind (125lb) to win the Class 4 Luger Handicap (1600m) before Absolute Heart (127lb) landed the Class 4 Ping Hai Star Handicap (1200m) for Cody Mo and Derek Leung.<\/p>\r\n
Circuit Champion (120lb), purchased at the 2024 Hong Kong International Sale for HK$5.4 million, showcased his talent with a last-to-first success in the Class 3 Furore Handicap (1200m) for Danny Shum to improve his record to two wins and a second from three starts.<\/p>\r\n
Slowly away, the Starspangledbanner gelding finished powerfully under Keith Yeung, clocking 21.81s for the final 400m to justify the patience of his connections with the five-year-old, who has overcome cannon bone, humeral bone and pelvis issues as well as a fever before making a belated debut.<\/p>\r\n
Pierre Ng\u2019s Aeroinvincible (135lb) continued Andrea Atzeni\u2019s stunning March surge with victory in the Class 4 Fay Fay Handicap (1400m). Atzeni took his tally for the month to 12, a haul which includes two quartets.<\/p>\r\n
Ng and Purton teamed with Aerovolanic (122lb) in the Class 3 Rapper Dragon Handicap (1400m) after David Hayes-trained Shamus Storm (116lb) clinched the Class 3 Designs On Rome Handicap (1800m) for Harry Bentley.<\/p>\r\n
Tony Cruz\u2019s Winning Ovation (113lb) clinched a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million by winning the Class 2 Golden Sixty Handicap (1400m) for Angus Chung.<\/p>\r\n
Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (25 March).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”16005″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Crowning a phenomenal week for trainer Mark Newnham, Invincible Ibis (126lb) vindicated Hugh Bowman\u2019s faith with a record-breaking triumph in the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (22 March). Clocking 1m 59.43s, the Hellbent gelding eclipsed Massive Sovereign\u2019s mark of 1m 59.85s, set in 2024,… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":15996,"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\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15994"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15994"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16010,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15994\/revisions\/16010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4YO-Series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}