Horse to follow: Patch Of Stars
Manfred Man Ka-leung couldn’t hide his excitement after Patch Of Stars took another step forward in Class 2 company at Sha Tin on Saturday.
The four-year-old handled a step up in grade when he powered to success in the feature under Zac Purton, who fended off a host of late challengers.
“I’m happy,” Man said. “1,400 meters didn’t really work for him so we stepped him back to 1,200 and it went well.
“We’ll have a look at the programme before deciding where we go next. He didn’t like 1,400m so we won’t be going to the Classic Mile.”
Patch Of Stars was one of three winners on the day for Purton. Supreme Agility and Beauty Bolt rounded off another successful afternoon.
Training performance of the day: David Eustace - Loch Tay
David Eustace was delighted to provide Richard Kingscote with his first win of the season on board a horse making only his second start in Hong Kong.
Loch Tay sprung a shock in the ninth race of the day over 1,650m when he won at 21.5 under Kingscote, who recorded his first win of the season at the 105th of asking.
“It’s not easy for a horse to put it all together on his second start in Hong Kong,” Eustace said. “He trialled well so we thought we’d run him on the dirt. I’m just chuffed to give Richard his first winner as well to get that monkey off his back.
“He’s been knocking on the door and he’s had some terrific draws, so hopefully now he’s got the win he’ll be able to go on from there.”
Ride of the day: Hollie Doyle - Double Win
Hollie Doyle collected the second win of her short-term contract with a tenacious ride from the rear of the field aboard the Manfred Man Ka-leung-trained Double Win.
Doyle joined her husband Tom Marquand, who celebrated victory at Tokyo on Saturday, as a weekend winner when she kept Double Win up to his work over 2,000 meters in the third race of the day.
After Double Win fractionally missed the break, Doyle appeared to face an uphill battle when she settled at the tail of the field behind an even early pace.
She began to ask her mount for an effort 800m from home and while his response was not immediate, Double Win began to make headway turning for home around the outside of the field.
Doyle continued to urge Double Win forwards for the length of the straight and eventually hit the front 50m from home and edged clear.
