Chasing his first Class 2 Chinese New Year Cup Handicap (1400m) victory, Pierre Ng is armed with two decent chances in the HK$2.84 million feature at the Chinese New Year meeting on Friday (31 January).
Apprentice jockey Britney Wong will partner Drombeg Banner, while visiting jockey Jamie Melham will ride Aurora Lady for Ng in the Chinese New Year Cup, the traditional feature of Chinese New Year Raceday.
Drombeg Banner had the option to run in the G3 Centenary Vase Handicap (1800m) at the same meeting, however, Ng decided to stick with the Chinese New Year Cup which Ng believes better suits the horse distance-wise.
Ng said: “1400m is the best distance of Drombeg Banner and therefore I decided to run him in this race, as this is an easier race for him compared with the G3 on the same day, and because he has to carry heavy weight (131lb) I chose to engage Britney, who has ten-pound claim.”
“Drombeg Banner has further improved this term and has been a model of consistency in this class. He will race in the front as usual,” Ng added.