Redemption, glory and Mark Newnham's BMW Hong Kong Derby breakthrough

Mark Newnham has spent the past year haunted by the replay of My Wish’s heartbreaking defeat in the 2025 BMW Hong Kong Derby, but the Australian trainer now has a far happier memory after Invincible Ibis powered to victory at Sha Tin yesterday.

Redemption, relief and a major breakthrough arrived together as Newnham claimed the biggest win of his career with a horse he bought, developed and aimed at the race with patience and precision.

“It was great to leave behind the disappointment of last year, which I have had to watch replays of for the last 12 months,” Newnham told The Standard. “This was his grand final, this was his goal, I bought him and it all came together.”

The Derby success was the latest sign of Newnham’s rapid rise in Hong Kong. In little more than two-and-a-half seasons he has built a stable of strength and walked away from Sha Tin last night just one win behind trainers’ championship leader Caspar Fownes.

That came days after Newnham produced five winners at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, a haul that fell one short of the all-time record and is believed to be the best by any trainer at a Hong Kong night meeting.

Yet even with that momentum, Newnham still made clear the Derby stands above everything else.

“It means as far as my Hong Kong career is concerned, it is a big step,” he said. “We’ve had two Derby runners and we got beaten an inch the first year and we have won it the second year.”

Newnham compared the city’s most famous race to Australia’s Melbourne Cup, both for its prestige and the way it can transform a career.

“It’s Hong Kong’s Melbourne Cup as far as the focus on it and the importance of it and the buildup to it,” he said. “You have got horses from last season building toward it, and any three-year-old that wins a race this season, the question is, ‘Is it a Derby horse?’”

Invincible Ibis was sourced by Newnham for the Ibis Syndicate, which includes Hong Kong Jockey Club stalwarts Daniel Zigal, Tony Souza, Nick Etches and Charmaine Li. Working with a budget of around HK$2 million, Newnham went to NZ$425,000 (HK$1.9m) at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale in November 2023.

The trainer has handled the horse patiently and gave credit to Hugh Bowman, who took over after Zac Purton chose to ride Sagacious Life in the Classic Mile.

Bowman had won the Derby aboard Werther in 2016 and Furore in 2019, and Newnham said Bowman’s calm judgment made him ideal for a horse who needed to be nursed along before peaking with a race-record performance.

“We had the horse prepared as well as possible and we had the right horse for the race,” Newnham said. “Whether they went fast or slow, I knew we had the guy who was not going to panic, and that is why he has built the record he has over the years, because he makes the right decisions.”

Newnham said Invincible Ibis is likely to drop back to 1600 meters for the Champions Mile on FWD Champions Day on April 26 rather than tackle the richer FWD QEII Cup over 2000 meters.

“Similar to My Wish last year, I will run him in the Mile,” he said. “I don’t think he is seasoned enough to take on Romantic Warrior and some strong Japanese horses as well. At this stage of his career that would only damage him. He has had his whole season aimed at being at his best today.”