Mark Newnham reached a significant milestone on Saturday (20 December) at Sha Tin as leading Four-Year-Old Classic Series prospect, Invincible Ibis (130lb), passed yet another crucial test on his march towards the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) – the opening leg of the three-race age-restricted challenge – on 1 February.

Celebrating his 100th Hong Kong training win with the young gun’s victory in the Class 3 Poinsettia Handicap (1600m), Newnham joined Caspar Fownes at the top of the trainers’ championship on 25 victories this term over Danny Shum (23 wins) and David Hayes (21).   

“It’s good to get the 100 out of the way. We’ve been stuck on 99 – I felt like a bad cricketer. It was going to come; I’m just pleased it came with this horse in this race. He’s a nice, progressive horse,” Newnham said. “That should see his rating lift to get him into the Four-Year-Old Classic Series. He’ll need another race before then, but he’s on his way and he’s improving every start.”

Stepping from barrier three, Invincible Ibis hugged the rail while midfield. The field fanned across the straight turning for home as the Hellbent gelding stole ground under a cool Zac Purton ride, before saluting by one and three quarter lengths in 1m 34.97s.

“He’s always given that indication that he’s going to run 1600 (metres) out strongly, but first run you need to see them do it. Zac gave him a perfect ride, the gaps opened up for him, so he had the advantages with an inside gate (three), but he still had to put them away and he did it well,” Newnham said.

After success earlier with Hong Kong International Sale graduate Circuit Fiery (135lb) in the first section of the Class 5 Amaryllis Handicap (1400m) for trainer Chris So, Purton became the first to reach 50 wins for the campaign with his bookending double.

Purton said: “He (Invincible Ibis) keeps improving which is a nice thing. He did it a different way today, coming inside and through them. He keeps doing what we ask him to do.”

The Four-Year-Old Classic Series also features the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 1 March and ends with the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 22 March.

So banked an early double as Manythanks Forever (120lb) landed the second section of the Class 5 Amaryllis Handicap (1400m) with Andrea Atzeni.

Sky Trust (118lb) earlier propelled Caspar Fownes to the top of the trainers’ standings – before Newnham levelled up – with a smart victory in the HK$2.84 million Class 2 Ivy Handicap (1200m) under jockey Maxime Guyon.

Having trained seven winners this month, Fownes is aiming to carry today’s momentum into Tuesday’s (23 December) fixture at Happy Valley, where he has nine entries. 

“It’s nice to see a horse like this perform at this Class 2 level,” Fownes said. “He’s a horse that can go further – he’ll be better at 1400 (metres) – so there’s some races coming up and, hopefully, we can get another win for the owners.”  

Guyon, who grabbed a double, said: “We had a perfect run behind the leaders. I travelled very well, he showed a good turn of foot, and we had a light weight today.”

Guyon rode Glaciated (119lb) to success for trainer Pierre Ng in the first section of the Class 4 Tulip Handicap (1200m) earlier. Preparing to conclude her riding stint on Tuesday, Hollie Doyle partnered The Red Hare (118lb) to capture the Class 3 Spruce Handicap (1400m) for trainer Frankie Lor.

“It was good. I’ve ridden him three times now, so third time lucky. Obviously, he’s quite highly strung and quirky, but I’ve gotten to know him in the mornings and it paid off in the end. Hopefully he continues to progress,” Doyle said.

“I’ve absolutely loved it here. I’ve had so much support and I’m very grateful. Hopefully, I’ve made some good connections, if they’ll have me back next time. One more fixture to go on the Tuesday at Happy Valley and, hopefully, I’ll have a bit of luck.”

Emblazon (130lb) dominated the Class 4 Pok Oi Cup Handicap (130lb) for trainer Cody Mo and jockey Jerry Chau. The four-year-old began a double for Mo, who also won the Class 4 Erica Handicap (1400m) with Nyx Gluck (127lb) and jockey James McDonald.

“This race worked out well for him (Nyx Gluck), he got a good draw (one) and James McDonald did very well. In the future, he will go a bit further, but for now this trip seems to be good for him,” Mo said.

McDonald, who concludes his short-term riding stint today, steered Fit For Beauty (134lb) to success in the Class 4 Hibiscus Handicap (1600m) for trainer John Size.

Francis Lui’s four-year-old debutant Turquoise Velocity (127lb) impressed in the Class 4 Cedar Handicap (1000m) under jockey Keith Yeung.

Yeung said: “He was a bit green when I was first trialling him at Conghua a few months ago, but he’s built up really well. Francis and his team has done an amazing job with him.

“When he first came to Hong Kong, he was really green, and we thought he would be an end-of-season horse, but he has improved after every trial. I knew he had the turn of foot, it’s just that he is still a big baby. He has a long way to go. I am really happy with him.”

Aurora Patch (119lb) cruised to a comfortable second win in the Class 3 Holly Handicap (1200m) for trainer Manfred Man and jockey Matthew Chadwick.

Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Tuesday (23 December).