It is a huge week for championship-leading trainer Mark Newnham, who after saddling seven runners at Sha Tin on Wednesday night (21 January), will seek top-level glory with stable star My Wish in Sunday’s (25 January) HK$13 million G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m).

Group 2 victor My Wish, who has six wins from 15 starts including the 2025 Hong Kong Classic Mile, faces mighty gallopers Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble – winners of a combined 17 Group 1 races – in the Triple Crown’s opener this weekend at Sha Tin.

Newnham said: “My Wish galloped this morning (Tuesday, 20 January), and it was very pleasing work. He goes into Sunday’s race as well as we can have him.

“Romantic Warrior is a world-class horse and Voyage Bubble is a champion Hong Kong horse, so it’s no easy task, but they’re getting to the latter stages of their careers and we’ve still got a bit ahead of us, and I think he’s still improving. We’re going in fit, well and we’ll let the result take care of itself.”

Flying Artie gelding My Wish trialled on 10 January over 1700m, surging into first place in 1m 46.91s (34.6, 23.6, 24.5, 24.2) under Alexis Badel.

“The trial at Happy Valley was an opportunity to engage him a little bit more, just to stimulate him a bit, because he hasn’t really left Sha Tin for two years. It was a good chance to get some miles into his legs, and I was really happy with the way he relaxed and finished off,” Newnham said.

Boasting 32 wins this season, including a jurisdiction-leading seven on the dirt, Newnham saddles Talents Ambition (124lb) and New Forest (120lb) in tomorrow’s HK$3.12 million Class 2 Tin Chak Handicap (1650m, dirt).

“They’re both in good form. One will probably be the leader, and one will probably be the horse at the tail. It might be tempo-related, the result, but both horses are going well.

“New Forest is building a good record, especially when he gets control of the race. Talents Ambition hasn’t been in many suitable races this season, he’s only run at this distance and in this class once when he was first-up this season,” Newnham said.

Andrea Atzeni partners New Forest, while Lyle Hewitson reunites with Talents Ambition, who is entered for the G3 Burj Nahaar (1600m, dirt) on 28 February and the G2 Godolphin Mile (1600m, dirt) on 28 March. Both races are run at Meydan.

“There’s not a lot of races for him in this class, but we’ve kept him ticking over and his trials have been good and so has his work, so I’d expect him to run to his best. We’ll know more after tomorrow night (regarding Dubai),” Newnham said.

Justify gelding New Forest debuts in Class 2 after a pair of Class 3 wins.

“He’s a horse that is very good from the front when he can control the speed, and it looks like he’ll get that tomorrow night. He’s a good, solid horse who has carried good weight in Class 3, but this is another step up again.

“He’s pretty foolproof. He wins the start most times, gets across, doesn’t pull, and saves energy. These horses always give themselves a chance to win,” Newnham said.

Newnham is represented by debut winner Supreme Sea (135lb) in the second section of the Class 4 Marble Handicap (1200m, dirt) under Hewitson from barrier three.

Newnham said: “He hasn’t been the quickest beginner. He recovered quickly last start from that inside gate, and hopefully tomorrow, he just makes a clean break and if he gets there in the right position, then he’ll be hard to beat.”

Looking further ahead to 1 February, the Australian has five runners entered in the Four-Year-Old Classic Series’ first leg – the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m): Invincible Ibis, Infinite Resolve, Winfield, Crimson Flash and Aerodynamics.

Invincible Ibis worked today at Sha Tin ahead of his Hong Kong Classic Mile assault. 

Newnham said: “I’ve been really happy with him. He did a little bit of work this morning, I rode him and he’s moving well. He’ll follow his usual programme into that race.”

Wednesday’s (21 January) nine-race all-dirt fixture at Sha Tin begins at 6.45pm with the Class 5 Kam Shan Handicap (1200m, dirt).