Mark Newnham has not hid his lofty expectations of Invincible Ibis and the four-year-old took another step towards this season’s Classic Series with an impressive Class 3 win at Sha Tin yesterday.
The lightly-raced galloper has been compared to last season’s Classic Mile winner My Wish on several occasions and he continued in the direction of Newnham’s stable star with his second win on his fifth start.
“He’s not too dissimilar from My Wish, but the thing with My Wish is he just continued to improve - hopefully this guy can too,” Newnham told The Standard. “He’s continuing to learn and I think you’ll start to see the best of him over a mile.”
Invincible Ibis justified his odds of 1.5 when he powered from behind midfield under Zac Purton over 1,400 meters.
The Standard's Jack Dawling runs the rule over the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Raceday
James McDonald proved you can’t keep him down for long with a top-class treble at Sha Tin yesterday, which included a pinpoint steer aboard Galaxy Patch in the Group 2 BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile.
The rider, who was winless from his 20 rides of this short-term contract, returned to the winner’s enclosure aboard the John Size-trained Fit For Beauty before he tasted Group 2 success aboard the Pierre Ng Pang-chi-trained Galaxy Patch.
Galaxy Patch had failed to continue his progression on his seven starts after he won last year’s Group 2 Sha Tin Trophy. But, under McDonald, got his head back in front with a ground-saving ride along the inside.
Following a red-hot early pace in the rear, McDonald opted to big his time and hug the rail, which paid dividends as his mount kept on well to prevail in a tight finish with Sunlight Power and Happy Together.
It had been 232 days since Romantic Warrior was last seen on a racetrack but, thanks to Danny Shum’s perfect preparation after his surgery in May, it looked as if the globetrotting star had never left as he brushed aside Voyage Bubble in yesterday’s Group 2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup.
Romantic Warrior had a screw inserted into an injured joint after a gruelling campaign in the Middle East, but the seven-year-old turned up at Sha Tin yesterday in his usual supreme self when he bossed a showdown with Ricky Yiu Poon-fai’s Triple Crown hero.
Despite orchestrating Romantic Warrior’s impressive comeback, Shum was quick to deflect the thanks onto the team around him.
“I’d like to thank all my team.” Shum said. “Dr Lawrence Chan, my stable vet, has also helped him a lot.
“We were all very confident today and it’s great to see that result.”
