RACEDAY REVIEW: Francis Lui finds another 'Superb' youngster, Nichola Yuen's early intent pays off and patience rewards Jamie Richards

Horse to Follow - Superb Spirit

Superb Spirit announced himself as another of Francis Lui Kin-wai’s young horses to follow when he won second-up in Race 5 over 1,200 meters.

There was already a hint of ability when the three-year-old was backed from 4.5 into 2.4 market elect before finishing fourth on debut. He jumped only fairly from barrier 10, peeled four wide without cover around the turn and still found the line well.

Today was a different story. From barrier four, Zac Purton was able to settle him one back on the rail behind the leading trio, but he still had to work for the win on a day when leaders had dominated to that point. Superb Spirit took much of the straight to hit top gear, but he got there inside the final 50m and went on to score by three-quarters of a length.

Lui thinks highly of the youngster, who adds to a developing group of three-year-olds that includes Hot Delight and Gold Patch as the stable looks ahead to next season’s Classic Series.

Ride of the Day - Nichola Yuen Hang-yiu, On The Lash

Apprentice jockey Nichola Yuen Hang-yiu’s aggression out of the gates won her the opening race aboard On The Lash, a horse that needs to lead and was ridden accordingly.

Yuen was hard at work on On The Lash through the first 400 meters of the 1,800m race until she was comfortable she had control, then she was able to steady the tempo, stack them up and pinch some cheap mid-race sectionals. That included a 25.64 third section, 1.79 seconds slower than Class 5 standard time.

As the field bunched behind her, some runners began to overrace and others were forced into wide moves. Yuen gradually built the tempo again from the front and still had enough left in the tank to give On The Lash a late kick.

On The Lash won by a length over Rosewood Fleetfoot, trained by Yuen’s master Ricky Yiu Poon-fai, with Pierre Ng Pang-chi expressing his gratitude to Yiu post-race for allowing him to engage Yuen and use her valuable 10-pound claim.

Training Performance of the Day - Jamie Richards

Jamie Richards gets the nod after landing a double with two horses who had not been easy to place or prepare on a tricky card, where a yielding surface and the C+3 rail mostly favored leaders without ruling out runners coming wider down the middle.

Richards said Lahore is “not very good at getting around the corners” and has “let us down” every time he has tried to step him up in distance, making the first-up win even more satisfying. He credited the work done behind the scenes by his team to have the horse ready and thanked the owners for their patience.

Richards struck again later with Romantic Fantasy, back in the winner’s circle for the first time since February 2024 and a first winner for the stable since joining in March last year. The six-year-old had placed six times from 17 starts for Richards, including four straight seconds this season, before winning after Richards went back to basics and removed all gear

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓