Emotional Derby victory for Invincible Ibis as syndicate celebrate 'once-in-a-lifetime' success

A sense of timing and destiny hung over the delirious scenes after Invincible Ibis won the BMW Hong Kong Derby, delivering once-in-a-lifetime glory for an ownership group with deep racing roots.

Invincible Ibis surged home under a cool, confident ride from Australian jockey Hugh Bowman, setting off wild celebrations among the 26-member Ibis Syndicate and trainer Mark Newnham.

With friends and family joining them trackside, the owners formed one of the loudest and most emotional groups among a big crowd at Sha Tin.

“Elated, joyous rapture,” was how syndicate co-manager and HKJC voting member Daniel Zigal described it.

The backstory made the triumph even more powerful.

Fellow co-manager Nick Etches, also a voting member, had gone close before, with Red Ruffian finishing second to Helene Star in the 1993 Derby. But this victory carried extra emotion after Etches lost his wife, Sue, to cancer in October last year.

“She loved her racing,” Zigal said. “And I believe we had help from upstairs. It was such an emotional win for Nick.”

It was Etches who randomly picked the horse shoe-shaped trophy at Thursday’s barrier draw that revealed Invincible Ibis would start from gate three – a draw that proved crucial.

Zigal said that if it had been up to him to choose the horse would have ended up with barrier 14 of 14.

"That was the trophy I was looking at – it really was meant to be," Zigal said. 

From the draw, Bowman was able to slot into the perfect spot, travel sweetly, and unleash Invincible Ibis at the top of the straight before powering past Numbers to win in a race-record 1:59.43.

For Newnham, it was a first Derby triumph in only his third Hong Kong season, coming a year after the heartbreak of finishing second with My Wish and in the same week he trained an astonishing five winners in one night at Happy Valley.

“I am over the moon. It is hard to describe,” he said. “It’s the biggest win in my career – I have always been a racing traditionalist, so to me a Derby is the real test.”