The night’s feature, the Class 4 Hong Kong Football Club Centenary Cup Handicap (1200m), went to the David Ferraris-trained London Master. Neil Callan got to work on the seven-year-old with 550m to race, and, rousted wide down the home straight, the Hong Kong International Sale graduate (ISG) edged Travel Datuk by a head at odds of 19/1.
“He hasn’t been running too badly, I was surprised he was an outsider,” Callan said. “His form has been mixed but his last run was quite good. You have to get him into his stride and then the tempo of the race determines how and where he’s going to finish.”
Another ISG hit the mark in the Class 4 Siu Sai Wan Handicap (1650m). The Danny Shum-trained Charity Grand landed a breakthrough win by a head under Karis Teetan.
Michael Chang has battled near the foot of the trainers’ table in recent seasons but the handler notched his third win this month – at a strike rate of 16.6% – when Joao Moreira rode a calm race to make it two wins on the bounce for The Joy Of Giving. The five-year-old took the 2200m Class 5 opener by a length from Sweet Bean.
The Brazilian bookended the card, riding a canny stalking race on Bank On Red and then driving strongly to the wire, adjusting to keep his mount straight late in the run. The John Size-trained favourite survived an objection from Grant van Niekerk on runner-up Arcada.
Music strikes a note