Eternal Harvest’s victory in the Class 3 Durham Handicap (1000m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night kept Ricky Yiu ticking along at the top of the standings and maintained his five-win lead over next-best Francis Lui, who was also on the mark.
“I’m still keeping the faith but this win doesn’t give me any more confidence,” Yiu said. “There are still nine meetings to go, so there’s time for someone to catch me – anything can happen.”
Eternal Harvest’s second win at his fifth start came seven and a half weeks after his last run.
“He’s been to Conghua and that’s helped him; like a lot of horses that go there, he’s more settled now,” Yiu said.
“Vincent (Ho) held the horse when the pace was fast in the early part of the race. He led all the way when he won before but this time he enjoyed chasing them and he’s improved since the last time he ran.”
Eternal Harvest’s previous success was at Sha Tin over 200m farther but Ho believes the minimum dash suits the Smart Missile three-year-old.
“It was a pretty good win,” Ho said. “His last run was disappointing, he felt weak, but today he was a totally different horse. I think Ricky freshening him up helped the horse and 1000 metres suited him – he can do it at 1200 but the 1000 metres suits him, the pace is on and he’s got some early pace.”
Vincent Ho nabs a double thanks to Massive Pocket, photo Hong Kong Jockey Club
The rider sealed a brace when he launched the Lui-trained Massive Pocket (119lb) fast and late down the middle of the track in the finale, the Class 2 Alnwick Handicap (1200m). The 49/1 shot ran down the Moreira-ridden Hong Kong Win (129lb).
Tony Cruz kept Yiu and Lui within range thanks to California Rad winning the Class 3 Hereford Handicap (1200m) under Karis Teetan. Cruz has 53 wins and sits third in the trainers’ table, six behind Yiu.
Vagner Borges continued his good form to bag a 13th success this term, nine of which have been achieved since the start of May. The Brazilian made all on the Richard Gibson-trained Invaluable in the Class 4 Rhondda Handicap (1800m).
Antoine Hamelin, another rider enjoying a purple patch, took section two of the Renfrew Handicap on the Chris So-trained Master Albert.
Curling Luxury was third at Sha Tin on Sunday but thrived on the quick back-up to win the Class 5 Selkirk Handicap (1650m) under Dylan Mo. The seven-year-old’s seventh career win gave trainer Me Tsui his 31st this term but only his second since the end of April.
