Victories by a pair of Hong Kong debutants – Horsepower and Young Emperor – highlighted the Happy Valley meeting on Sunday (27 October) when David Eustace, Vincent Ho, Zac Purton and Luke Ferraris shone with doubles.

Formerly known as Fire Follower when trained in Australia by Anthony Freedman, Frankie Lor-trained Horsepower earned a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million after sweeping to victory in the Class 3 Zhuhai Handicap (1000m) under Purton.

Raced by The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Chairman Mr Michael Lee and his wife Vanessa, Horsepower impressed seven-time champion jockey Purton despite the Harry Angel gelding’s waywardness.

“It was a really good effort because he didn’t break as well as I was hoping he was going to,” Purton said. “I was in an awkward spot – I couldn’t press forward, I couldn’t come back to get in. In the straight, he wanted to keep hanging in and running in on me, so he made it difficult for me.

“He went well and there’s a bit to work with.”

Purton secured a brace in a thrilling finale to the card when Francis Lui-trained Copartner Prance claimed the Class 2 Guangzhou Handicap (1200m) by a nose over Lucky Encounter – condemning David Hayes to five second placings from nine runners for the day.

Young Emperor caught Ferraris by surprise, with the young South African predicting the Irish import will continue to improve after he claimed a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million to provide Eustace with his Hong Kong brace.

Raced by the HKJC Racing Club Limited, the Holy Roman Emperor three-year-old defied his starting price of 41/1 in surging past Romantic Son and Righteous Arion to prevail at his first attempt in Hong Kong.

Formerly known as Eclipse Emerald when trained by James Stack in Ireland, where he won over 1186m at Naas, Young Emperor finished powerfully under Ferraris.

“It was a nice surprise. He’s a nice horse and he was really professional the way he went about his business today, which I think helped a lot,” Ferraris said.

“He had a really sticky barrier, but came right back to me and got into a nice rhythm and when we presented, he quickened up nicely.

“I think he’ll improve off this. He was fairly green when he did get his head in front. It’s nice for David to have a double as well as for myself.”

Eustace believes the gelding will eventually flourish over long trips at Sha Tin.

“I think he’ll be a good horse to get to Sha Tin when the programme allows, which it does in a couple of weeks. He’ll stay 2000m, no problem. You never know, he might get a bit further, but obviously there aren’t a lot of races to do that,” he said.

Ho teamed with Manfred Man to land the Class 4 Foshan Handicap (1650m) before scoring on Charity Gain in the Class 4 Shenzhen Handicap (1800m) in tandem with Eustace.

With nine wins against the past five meetings, four-time Tony Cruz Award winner Ho boosted his tally for the season to 11 to trail only Purton (30) and Hugh Bowman (17).

Me Tsui’s veteran Happy Tango posted his sixth Hong Kong victory when the nine-year-old charged late for Angus Chung to clinch the Class 4 Kwangtung Handicap Cup (1000m) as Hong Kong International Sale (HKIS) graduate Denfield scored a third win at his 20th start for Danny Shum, triumphing in the second section of the Class 4 Huizhou Handicap (1200m) under Hugh Bowman.

David Hall celebrated his 61st birthday with Sharpen Bright’s nose victory in the Class 3 Dongguan Handicap (1800m) under Karis Teetan.

“We were looking for a present today and we got one, so a happy trainer for a happy birthday,” Hall said. “He was up in Class 3 with a light weight (116lb), so the market was telling you he would be competitive but he had to work for it and 1800m is probably a bit short of his best trip. He was under the pump a long way out to quicken up and it was a good effort for him to stay on the way he did under a good, solid ride by Karis.”

Matthew Chadwick continued a strong start to the season, combining with Cody Mo to win the Class 5 Chaozhou Handicap (1200m) before Ricky Yiu-trained Smart Fighter prevailed in the first section of the Class 4 Huizhou Handicap (1200m) under Ferraris.

“I was forced to show my hand at the top of the straight and he quickened up really nicely, but when he hit the front, the ears went up and he was having a good think about it,” Ferraris said. “He probably should have won sooner, but he’s a bit of a thinker.

“It’s nice to get another winner for Ricky and I’m happy with the way things are going at the moment.”

Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday (30 October).