Preparing to saddle Invincible Ibis in the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (22 March), Mark Newnham breathed fresh life into his Hong Kong trainers’ championship quest with a spectacular, career-best five-timer at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (18 March).

Newham vaulted into second place in the trainers’ championship with 41 wins behind Caspar Fownes (43 wins) when Soaring Bronco, Armor Golden Eagle and Notthesillyone triumphed in successive races to open the card, before Ace War and Crimson Flash completed a glorious night for the Australian horseman.

Newnham’s previous best was a quartet in Australia, and he was elated at forging new territory.

“It’s an unbelievable result. I came here with good chances all night, but you don’t expect everything to work out the way it has,” Newnham said. “The expectations once you start getting a couple on the board rise, but you don’t ever expect to get five.

“In Australia I had trained four winners in a day, but they were spread across two different tracks. I had never had four winners (or more) at the same track until tonight.

“It’s (the quintet) significant and it’s significant at the moment because we’re all trying to keep pace with Caspar, so it puts us a little bit closer. We’ve had a bit of a mid-season slumber but that’s to be expected when early we had a lot of horses winning and the strike rate was high.”

Without a victory since Ace War scored at the city circuit on 4 March, Newnham slotted his first winner of the evening when Soaring Bronco (128lb), under James Orman, deadheated with David Eustace’s Glorious Ryder (135lb), for Luke Ferraris, in the Class 5 Aster Handicap (1650m).

Newnham was again to the fore when Armor Golden Eagle (134lb) led all the way to land the Class 4 Azalea Handicap (1650m) for Andrea Atzeni, who finished the meeting with a quartet – his second for the month.

“It wasn’t really the idea to lead with him, but Andrea got the pace right and that certainly helped. We wanted to be closer in the run, but when the top weight (Mighty Steed) didn’t go on and lead, Andrea took it up and rated him well. The horse responded well, too.”

Newnham’s streak continued with Richard Kingscote’s brilliant ride on Notthesillyone (128lb) in the Class 4 Bellflower Handicap (1000m).

“Luke (Ferraris) usually rides the horse, but he was previously engaged. Richard (Kingscote)’s only had a few rides on him – but has ridden them all well – so we opted to go with him, and he pulled off a perfect ride from gate 12. Once he settled outside the leader he was going to run well,” Newnham said.

“He’s been a consistent horse this season. He hasn’t been back here since he won over 1000m in Class 5. So really, it was hard to be confident from gate twelve in Class 4, but horse and rider did a good job. His rating (52) will skyrocket now but he’s done well for the year.”

Ace War (129lb) romped in with the Class 4 Dahlia Handicap (1800m) under Zac Purton before Crimson Flash (120lb) earned a Top-Up Bonus of HK$1.5 million to complement the winner’s purse of HK$1.59 million with success in the Class 2 Daisy Handicap (1200m) under Atzeni.

Replacing the injured Dylan Brown McMonagle, Atzeni capitalised fully when Fownes-trained Sky Cap (127lb) claimed the Class 4 The Ireland Trophy Handicap (1200m) as the Italian continued a stunning run of form.

“The plan was to go forward but he missed the break and we’re on the back foot a little bit and I was caught wide, just off the pace,” Atzeni said. “We were three-wide but when I went to take him back, he sort of stopped, so I had to go with him, and he kept going.

“It’s never nice to pick up a ride when another jockey is injured, and hopefully Dylan is not too bad.”

Atzeni closed the card by driving John Size-trained Win Beauty Viva (117lb) through a narrow gap to land the Class 3 Snapdragon Handicap (1650m) from Do Your Part (124lb) and Newnham’s Max Que (135lb), who was just over a neck away in third place.

Win Beauty Viva earned a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million.

Purton triumphed on Manfred Man’s Aurio (125lb) in the Class 3 Hydrangea Handicap (1200m) after David Hayes (38 wins) maintained touch with Fownes and Newnham when the well-supported World Hero (116lb) finished strongly under Harry Bentley to snare the Class 4 Shamrock Handicap (1200m).

Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin on Sunday (22 March) with the running of the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m).