Trainer Dennis Yip claimed a timely first win of the 2025\/26 season, taking out the feature HK$4.2 million G3 National Day Cup Handicap (1000m) at Sha Tin\u2019s National Day fixture on Wednesday (1 October) when his stable star Fast Network (125lb) blitzed an impressive field under Alexis Badel, who won the contest for a third time.<\/p>\r\n
Badel won the race last season aboard Beauty Waves (135lb), who faded to sixth place under champion jockey Zac Purton in a tame defence of his crown. The Frenchman said this time around he had pursued the ride on Fast Network as he rated his chances highly.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cI knew he\u2019d be a very strong contender in this race, so I was chasing the ride, and I\u2019m grateful that the connections and the trainer gave me the confidence of the ride,\u201d Badel said. \u201cIt\u2019s always nice to deliver. I thought he won brilliantly. I probably hit the front too soon because of the draw, but he had plenty to offer. It was great.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
The son of Wrote was ridden under a hold until the last 200m when he was unleashed by Badel and quickly loomed to the head of the field along the outside.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a late finisher, this horse,\u201d Yip said, \u201cSo in the early stages, I told the jockey not to push him a lot. Just leave him alone, let him relax and then he will finish the last 300 (metres).<\/p>\r\n
A triumphant Yip acknowledged the improvement in his five-year-old charge and switched his focus to further Group success down the line.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a very honest horse. Since his last race (the Class 2 Tai Mo Shan Handicap, 1400m), his form has improved a lot in Conghua,\u201d Yip said. \u201cI think at the end of the month, there is a Group 2 1200 (metres) for him (Premier Bowl, Handicap). I think that\u2019s my target for him,\u201d Yip added.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Fast Network lands the National Day Cup at Sha Tin.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Jockeys\u2019 championship pacesetter Purton registered a National Day treble to take his tally for the season to 13.<\/p>\r\n
The first leg of his trio of wins came aboard 24-race maiden Ragnarr (130lb), who finally got off the mark with victory in the Class 5 Nanning Handicap (1200m).<\/p>\r\n
The six-year-old had threatened a breakthrough for trainer David Hall in recent weeks, following two runner-up showings last term and a first-up third at Happy Valley in September. A return to Sha Tin for the first time in seven outings and a reunion with Purton proved just the tonic for the son of Olympic Glory. A typically calculated ride from Purton left a fast-closing Ragnarr with one to pass at 150-metre mark. He did so with some in hand.<\/p>\r\n
A plan came together in the Class 5 Jinan Handicap (1800m) for trainers\u2019 championship front-runner David Hayes and his seasoned campaigner Oriental Smoke (135lb). The class-dropper\u2019s last three wins have come at Class 4, and all seven of his career victories have come under Purton \u2013 by design, Hayes revealed.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cI only ever put Zac on when (Oriental Smoke) is ready, and he was running in the shorter races to get into Class 4,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n
A good servant to Hayes\u2019 yard, the handler said this might be his last time under the winner\u2019s arch.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cZac said, actually, he doesn\u2019t feel so good. He\u2019s an old boy, so if he\u2019s pulled up a little bit sore, we might consider retiring (him) because I love these old horses winning in their last run. It\u2019s very nice. We\u2019ll see how he is tomorrow,\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”7387″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Purton\u2019s treble was sealed with a fine steer on the Class 4 Chengdu Handicap (1400m) favourite Invincible Ibis (132lb). Held up at the back of the field, the progressive four-year-old, who was still without a career win, surged to score emphatically, blazing a trail through the centre of the track to salute by two lengths.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cIt was never going to be easy from gate 14,\u201d handler Mark Newnham said, \u201cBut his best performances have been when he\u2019s got to the outside. It\u2019s the best way to ride this horse.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always shown enough talent (for me to know) that when he\u2019s got up to the right distance in the right circumstances, he\u2019d put it together, and he put it together really well today.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
On a red-letter day for veteran gallopers, Healthy Happy (131lb) \u2013 at nine years old \u2013 rose to claim the Class 2 Beijing Handicap (1400m), his first win in a little over two years, for trainer Frankie Lor.<\/p>\r\n
Two-pound claiming apprentice Jerry Chau successfully lifted the 44-start veteran \u2013 who won the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) in 2021 \u2013 to a surprise win at odds of 21\/1 over market leaders Steps Ahead (125lb) and Hong Lok Golf (134lb).<\/p>\r\n
Britney Wong claimed the opener, the Class 5 Shenyang Handicap (1400m), following a confident ride aboard Tsuen Wan Glory (123lb) for Manfred Man. Drawn 12, she motored across to head the field before finding the rail. She was never in danger as she took her third win of the season by two-and-a-half lengths going away.<\/p>\r\n
A race-to-race double for Man was completed in the second section of the Class 4 Chongqing Handicap (1200m) when Hugh Bowman got home on the favourite Aurora Patch (131lb), with the five-year-old claiming his first win of the season.<\/p>\r\n
Chris So and Andrea Atzeni combined to take out the first section of the Class 4 Chongqing Handicap (1200m) following a determined showing from first-time winner Sunny Q (118lb). From the foot of the weights, the five-year-old weaved through the field a furlong out and overhauled favourite Do Your Part (134lb) on the nod, denying jockey Keagan De Melo a first winner of the season.<\/p>\r\n
Winning doubles were sealed for jockey and trainer when Hall-trained Kempes (117lb) \u2013 a Group 1 winner in Argentina \u2013 got up to snatch the Class 3 Shanghai Handicap (1200m) on the line under Atzeni.<\/p>\r\n
After flattering to deceive in the first seven outings of his young Hong Kong career, the 2023 G1 Estrellas Juvenile (1600m) winner broke his duck after rallying from the tail of the field to seize his local maiden victory by a nose.<\/p>\r\n
Newnham completed a double of his own in the fixture-closing Class 3 Tianjin Handicap (1400m) when his trainee Max Que (117lb) prevailed by a short head over Silvery Breeze (126lb) for David Eustace.<\/p>\r\n
Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin on Saturday (4 October).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”7388″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Trainer Dennis Yip claimed a timely first win of the 2025\/26 season, taking out the feature HK$4.2 million G3 National Day Cup Handicap (1000m) at Sha Tin\u2019s National Day fixture on Wednesday (1 October) when his stable star Fast Network (125lb) blitzed an impressive field under Alexis Badel, who won the… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":7386,"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-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7383"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7394,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383\/revisions\/7394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-national-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}