Mark Newnham wanted a solid return from Invincible Ibis in Sunday's Group 3 Celebration Cup (1,400-meters) at Sha Tin, but the Hong Kong Derby winner gave him far more.
The five-year-old became only the third Derby winner since 2010 to win this race first-up the following season, joining Ambitious Dragon (2011) and Golden Sixty (2020) – two horses who went on to dominate Hong Kong racing.
"Truthfully, it was a little unexpected," Newnham said. "I thought at 1,400, carrying a little more condition and with bigger goals ahead, if he ran a good third or fourth, I'd be satisfied. But a win like that, I'm pretty happy."
The scales told the story of a horse that has grown up over the summer - but can also trim into a fitter horse on International Day in December. Invincible Ibis weighed in at 1,154 pounds, 16 pounds heavier than he has ever raced and 23 pounds up on his fourth in the Champions Mile in April.
Luke Ferraris, standing in for the injured Hugh Bowman, settled fifth from barrier one before angling off the back of Little Paradise and running down Copartner Prance in the straight.
"Luke just said to me that he was probably on empty the last 50 meters, but we know he's very tenacious," Newnham said. "He had such a good run through the race and I'm sure that helped, because if he'd had to do any work, he was probably a little underdone."
Galaxy Patch, conceding eight pounds to the winner, flew home from the tail of the field to run second, clocking 21.18 seconds for his final 400 meters. Classic Cup winner Stormy Grove ran on well for third in his first start since a bleeding attack.
Little Paradise was the disappointment. Sent out the 1.9 favorite, the Classic Mile winner was given the run of the race by Zac Purton but found nothing in the straight after travelling strongly in the run and finished a flat sixth, leaving serious questions about whether he can measure up at the top level.
Newnham will take Invincible Ibis to the Group 2 Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m) on October 19 and the Group 2 Jockey Club Mile on November 22 and will enter him for both the Hong Kong Mile and the Hong Kong Cup in December.
"At the moment, I'm thinking of keeping him to a mile," he said. "I think a horse that's lightly raced like him, going to 2,000 against all ages at Group 1 level, is a fair ask. But the horse will tell me where he's at."
Newnham is not concerned about a clash with stablemate My Wish, last season's Champions Mile winner, and both horses will be aimed at the Hong Kong Mile for now. They will clash in the Sha Tin Trophy next start.
"You've just got to do what's best for both horses," Newnham said. "I'm sure later in the season I can take Ibis out to 2,000. It's just a matter of whether that's in December or a little bit later on."
