Training Performance of the Day – Frankie Lor Fu-chuen, Effortless Win
Frankie Lor Fu-chuen did not need long to make an impact with Effortless Win, producing the Australian import to score first-up against a quality Class 3 field.
Effortless Win won a two-year-old maiden at Doomben in Queensland last July before making his way to Hong Kong. Lor had him ready to fire on local debut after four barrier trials, and the three-year-old delivered immediately under a determined Jerry Chau Chun-lok ride.
“I liked the trials, but he is only a young horse and still quite inexperienced, so I wanted to build up his fitness and confidence before we put him into a race. He has some upside and I think we can step him up in distance too and he will handle, definitely 1400m and then 1600m.”
It was another pleasing result for Lor’s Trainer Syndicate, which has already enjoyed a strong season through stable stars Numbers and Salon S. Numbers will line up in the Group 1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup on May 24.
Ride of the Day - Lyle Hewitson, Bling Bling Genius
The seventh race looked light on speed on paper and Lyle Hewitson turned that into the winning move aboard Bling Bling Genius. He took luck out of the equation from barrier 12, crossed to the rail by the 1,300-meter mark and held on by a half-head after controlling the race from the front.
The Douglas Whyte-trained five-year-old had proven himself at the distance when shedding his maiden tag in Class 5 last start, and that gave Hewitson the confidence to be positive. Bling Bling Genius stepped cleanly and crossed without burning too much fuel, putting the race on his terms before the field had fully settled.
From there, he was in a race of his own. Plenty goes into analyzing the final sections of a race, but Hewitson won this one in the first 200m, and his season tells a similar story. He has won more races from in front than from any other position in running this term, and this was another example. Hewitson rated Bling Bling Genius to a tee and left enough in the tank for when it mattered late.
Horse to Follow - Storm Mirror
Those who followed Storm Mirror through the trials were left flat when Pierre Ng Pang-chi’s newcomer could only finish seventh on debut, but the bare result does not tell the full story, and he is worth another look next time.
Storm Mirror was sent out joint 4.4 second favorite for his first start in a Class 4 up the 1,000-meter straight, only for his race to go wrong almost immediately. He jumped awkwardly and lost ground before being steadied near the 850m mark when crowded between Cap Liner and Alsonso, which left him in a less-than-ideal position in running, near-last.
The trouble did not end there. Storm Mirror was crowded again near the 800m mark, raced in restricted room between the 800m and 600m, and never obtained clear running for the remainder of the event. James Orman was unable to test Storm Mirror at any stage of the race, yet the three-year-old was beaten only three and a quarter lengths behind Cody Mo Wai-kit’s 69-1 outsider Oneshot.
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
