Mark Newnham's Hong Kong Classic Cup darkhorse – "those horses generally with conserved energy run well at their next start."

Jerry Chau Chun-lok reunites with Mark Newnham-trained Lucky Sam Gor in the Hong Kong Classic Cup and the trainer believes the pair are a genuine dark horse in the second leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series.

Lucky Sam Gor has been one of the season’s most improved horses, winning four of eight and climbing from a rating of 45 to 76, with Chau aboard for all but one of those wins.

Chau missed the ride last time when he partnered Self Improvement in the G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia, while Lucky Sam Gor finished an unlucky fourth to Stormy Grove in a restricted Class 3 mile race for four-year-olds. Held up between the 450 meters and the 250 meters, he was beaten two and three-quarter lengths.

“He’s actually going in (the Classic Cup) without having had a hard run, so those horses generally with conserved energy run well at their next start,” said Newnham. “He gets on very well with Jerry, he’s probably the dark horse amongst them and he looks like he will eat up the 1800 meters.”

Newnham also saddles beaten Classic Mile favorite Invincible Ibis, whose sixth-place finish has been a talking point after what he described as “mission impossible” given his position in running and how the race was run.

“I thought he stayed on well to the line and he has trained on; his trial was good last week and I think the way he relaxes, he'll get the extra distance fine.”

After starting from barrier 11 in the Classic Mile, Invincible Ibis comes into gate two for the Classic Cup. By contrast, stablemate Infinite Resolve has not fared as well, drawing barrier 14 after jumping from barrier three in the Classic Mile, where he ran second to Little Paradise after being briefly held up for clear running near the 300 meters.

“He's been really good his last couple. The distance is still a query, but he showed in the trial the other day that he can relax well,” said Newnham of Infinite Resolve’s third in a 1,600-meter trial with Voyage Bubble and Romantic Warrior.

“He relaxed well in the Classic Mile, and if he can do that on Sunday, if he conserves his energy well enough to run it out, he's got a good turn of foot.”