Mark Newnham has put himself in the trainers’ championship race by doing things his way, and he is not about to change now.
Despite being in the thick of what has been a hotly contested trainers’ championship Newnham has maintained a relaxed attitude about the title chase.
Nearing the end of his third season in Hong Kong, Newnham has every reason to be satisfied with where he stands. He heads into Saturday’s card second on the trainers’ table with 58 wins, four behind Caspar Fownes, and sits third in prize money with HK$126,414,540 — in a season where Romantic Warrior or Ka Ying Rising have dominated the big money events.
“It’s been huge,” Newnham said. “If you’d said to me at the start of the season that I’d win a Derby, the Champions Mile, have a five-timer at Happy Valley and a trifecta on the dirt, I would have taken it every day of the week.
“We’ve had a better season than I penciled us in for and the processes are working well. I won’t change those towards the last month of the season to push on to win the championship.
“If the horses are racing well enough to do it, well and good, but it sets us up for a good season next season and the following one.”
Newnham heads to Sha Tin with a capable team, but he remains adamant the title race will not tempt him into squeezing the final stages of the season at the expense of the stable’s longer-term picture.
Quantum Legend is a case in point. The three-year-old will not run again after this weekend, and Newnham believes his best is still ahead of him.
“It’s a very forward-looking process,” Newnham said. “I’ve got a lot of those types of horses where that will be the end of their season, like Quantum Legend, who won’t run again after the weekend.
“So, the younger horses, I’m not going to push to try and win the championship. That’s why, if we get there, we get there. If not, I’ll have a decent team for next season.”
Quantum Legend has finished ninth and sixth in two Hong Kong starts and has yet to reproduce on race day what he has shown Newnham at home, but the trainer is convinced the talent is there.
“He’s a horse of good ability but he just hasn’t quite clicked here yet,” Newnham said. “What he was showing in his trials before he raced was better than his race performances, but he’s only a three-year-old that came here with one start, so it does take a while to adjust, especially to the speed of the races and the firmness of the tracks.
“Whether it’s going to happen for him this season or next, I think he’s certainly got the talent for it to happen. It might just take time.”
Polar Patch, another of Newnham’s three-year-olds, is on a six-day turnaround after finishing third at each of his past two starts.
“He’s improved in his last two starts,” Newnham said. “He’s a big, strong horse and the back-up will be good for him.
“He’s showing better ability than he showed in his first two starts, where he sort of flopped out the back and didn’t run on, but when we decided to ride him forward two starts back, it engaged him in the race, and it got a better performance.
“He was slow away last start, but he was still able to run on, so he’s an improving horse suited by the back-up.”
Asked whether the title race had changed his approach, Newnham’s answer was frank.
“Not really,” he said. “I’m someone who sticks pretty rigidly to what I believe and what I know works.
“For me, it’s just something that’s a bit of background noise really. You’ve got to stay focused on what you believe in and what works for you, and what works for me has been good all season, so no need to change anything.”
