An abridged Sha Tin race meeting on Sunday (21 September) was cut short due to the deterioration of the track in torrential rain, but not before Hugh Bowman secured an imposing double that took him to five wins for the season. 

The Australian got off to the best possible start after landing the opener in yielding conditions, the Class 5 Kowloon Tsai Handicap (1800m), aboard Hakka Radiance (130lb) for trainer Danny Shum, who moved level with Caspar Fownes at the top of the trainers’ rankings.

Five-year-old Hakka Radiance held on gamely in driving rain under a late challenge from Yeaboi (120lb) to secure his first win in Hong Kong.

“I was able to get him into a nice flowing rhythm and he appreciated the softer conditions, too,” Bowman said. “He really did let go on that softer ground, but it was vital: the fact he was able to get into a good, consistent gait throughout the race.”

The second leg of his double was a contender for ride of the day as the 45-year-old emerged from the back of the field, swinging wide on Solid Win (132lb) before blazing through the centre of the track to take the Class 4 Kowloon Bay Handicap (1400m) by a length after a final-50 metre tussle with The Heir (128lb) under Vincent Ho. It represented a first win of the season for trainer Ricky Yiu.

“I didn’t expect to be quite so far back,” Bowman said. “But if I didn’t do that, I was going to be wide and covering a lot of ground.

“When he started to come into it, he picked up with quite a bit of purpose and I went out to the middle of the track where there was some fresh ground – that wasn’t the plan, it just unfolded – and he went to the line with a bit of authority. So two good winners.”

Trainer Cody Mo picked up a double of his own when Motor (127lb) claimed the Class 4 Sam Shing Handicap (1200m) smartly under Derek Leung, who inched to 499 Hong Kong winners.

A front-running ride delivered Motor’s first win from six starts. After coming off Mazing Grace’s (124lb) heels with 250m to go, he powered past him and landed the win by a length-and-a-half from Winning Champion (125lb).

“This horse was bred in Ireland, so the (wet) track is good for him,” Mo said. “For this season, I put the blinkers on and he’s more focussed. He has improved a lot and I hope he can keep going.”

Mo’s second win came courtesy of Emblazon (125lb), who rattled home in the Class 4 Yi O Handicap (1200m), with Jerry Chau getting off the mark for the campaign in Hong Kong.

The burgeoning partnership of Fownes and Ellis Wong continued to flourish when the pair combined with Sky Trust (132lb) to scoop the feature race, the Class 3 KPMG 80th Anniversary Cup Handicap (1200m).

Well-positioned in the slipstream of early leader Wonderstar (126lb), Wong shifted Sky Trust out at the 300m mark and quickly put a length on his rival.

“His work had been good,” Fownes said. “Good preparation leading into the race and obviously, he’s handled the wet conditions today, that’s been very beneficial to him.

“Ellis put him in a beautiful position; the horse did the rest, so it was good,” he said. “He’s a very versatile horse, and if you train them right, you can run them over shorter distances.”

An imperious showing from Precision Goal (128lb) gave David Hayes his fourth winner of the season in the Class 4 Ting Kau Handicap (1650m, dirt), with Luke Ferraris delivering a fine front-running performance on the son of Tavistock.

Good Good (126lb) provided a pleasant surprise for John Size and Brenton Avdulla when he landed the Class 4 Kau To Shan Handicap (1600m) at 13/1. After making all, the five-year-old son of Savabeel was forced to dig deep for his scalp in the final 200m during a spirited battle with the well-fancied Pearl of Pang’s (128lb).

Mojave Desert (129lb) backed up a third-place finish last week for Mark Newnham perfectly in the Class 3 Pat Sin Leng Handicap (1650m, dirt). Given every chance after a patient steer stalking the leaders along the rail under Andrea Atzeni, he strode clear to salute by two lengths from Endeared (125lb), punching on in second. New Forest (125lb) made it two in the first three for Newnham.

“He’s a good back-up horse because he does well in between,” Newnham said. “He’s versatile enough distance-wise on the all-weather, and he loves that stalking position from the inside barrier.

“He’s been a good horse since he joined the stable, and there are more wins in him, especially on this surface,” he added. “He ran well on Happy Valley for me another time, so I’m not saying he’s just going to race on the all-weather, but while his form’s this good, I’ll keep him there.”

The Happy Valley race meeting scheduled for Wednesday (24 September) has been cancelled because of safety considerations with the approach of Super Typhoon Ragasa.