Jack Dawling runs the rule over the meeting at Sha Tin with the best of the day.
A stable change to Manfred Man Ka-leung has been instrumental in turning the form of Aurora Patch around and the trainer insists his drastic improvement is down to patience.
Since Aurora Patch arrived at Man’s yard with two minor placings from nine starts, the five-year-old has recorded form figures of fifth, second, first, second, second and first following his dominant win at Sha Tin on Saturday.
“It was a nice win,” Man said. “He has a good record for me. It’s just been normal training and not putting him under too much pressure. I don’t like pushing too hard.”
After the decisive 1,200m victory, Man also said both Lucky Sweynesse and Self Improvement may be heading to Saudi Arabia to compete on Saudi Cup night in February. The trainer said he will leave the final decision to their respective owners.
Hollie Doyle has been enjoying a successful stint in Hong Kong and the leading British jockey added to her tally of wins with an impressive steer from a tricky gate aboard The Red Hare at Sha Tin on Saturday.
Doyle collected the fifth win of her short-term stint when she negotiated barrier 12 aboard the Frankie Lor Fu-chuen-trained galloper, whom she finished third aboard at Sha Tin last month.
After jumping from the tricky gate, Doyle settled in midfield and tracked the even early tempo set by Sky Joy.
Once called up by Doyle, The Red Hare responded well, powering home to prevail in a tight finish with California Waves.
Doyle will finish her short-term contract at Happy Valley on Wednesday, where she will bid for Class 2 success aboard the Francis Lui Kin-wai-trained Steps Ahead.
He showed plenty of promise in his barrier trials and Turquoise Velocity confirmed his potential with a debut win under Keith Yeung Ming-lun.
After winning three of his four trials, Turquoise Velocity justified his price of 4.1 in the fourth race of the day, a Class 4 contest over 1,000m.
The youngster jumped sharply from barrier seven and allowed Yeung to track the pace, set by Spicy Spangle, in the early stages. Having travelled powerfully 400m from home, Yeung asked his mount for an effort, at which time his inexperienced mount began to wander around slightly.
But, once inside the final 200m, the Francis Lui Kin-wai-trained gelding stuck his head down and kept on well, eventually being eased down for a decisive one-and-three-quarter-length win.
