Karis Teetan's season was given a timely kickstart at Sha Tin on Sunday, the Mauritian ending a 44-ride losing streak aboard Definitive before adding a second winner on Mr Cool, on an afternoon when only a protest stood between him and a treble.
Teetan had been stuck on two wins since completing a double at Happy Valley on September 9 aboard Team Happy and Amazing Gaze, but the lean spell was quickly forgotten as he doubled his tally for the campaign.
"Could have been three wins," Teetan said. "Would have been nice. I mean, you know, this is Hong Kong racing. We had a good start and then it sort of went a bit slow for the last couple of meetings. But you just have to keep your head down and keep working.
"Today I had some nice rides, needed things to go my way and everything seemed to fall into place."
Teetan arrived on Sunday having gone 43 rides without a winner, the longest active losing streak among Hong Kong's jockeys, and added another defeat before Definitive finally ended the drought in the third race.
He certainly knew the David Eustace-trained gelding well enough. Sunday's Class 2 1,650-meter assignment on the all-weather track was their 10th together, the previous nine having produced two wins and two seconds.
Quickly away from barrier seven in the eight-runner field, Teetan settled just behind Sing Dragon, who was bidding to repeat his victory in the corresponding race 12 months earlier. Matthew Chadwick allowed Sing Dragon to roll through the middle stages at quicker than Jockey Club standard time, giving Teetan a target before he began his move approaching the 500-meter mark.
Definitive had taken over by the 300 meters and was not for catching, while market elects Sky Vino and Talents Ambition had too much ground to make up from further back.
Teetan appeared to have struck again two races later when he drove Chris So Wai-yin's Firefoot home by a nose over Jimmy Orman's Supreme Agility in the Class 4 1,650-meter all-weather contest, but the result did not survive an objection. Orman protested after Firefoot shifted ground in the concluding stages and interfered with Supreme Agility, and stewards reversed the placings after determining that the runner-up would have won but for the interference, given the narrow margin.
Teetan bounced straight back in the next race, guiding Frankie Lor Fu-chuen's Mr Cool to his second career win at start 17 in the Class 4 1,400 meters.
Mr Cool had hardly been ignored by the market in the past, starting favorite six times but managing four third-place finishes on those occasions. He attracted strong support again on Sunday, firming from $6.90 to $3.50 shortly before the jump to start second favorite.
A true tempo and barrier two helped Teetan settle five back on the rail before shifting into the clear approaching the 300 meters, and Mr Cool did the rest, drawing away for a comfortable two-length victory.
The win was particularly satisfying for Teetan, who admitted his expectations of the five-year-old had once been high.
"Well, honestly, in his first preparation, I thought he was a Derby horse. I honestly thought he was a horse with lots of ability, but he sort of disappointed us a bit and didn't really pick up where we thought he could end up.
"I think being a year older has helped him. I liked the way he finished off today. It just shows us that, you know, he's coming on the right way now, and I think he can keep progressing from here."
The only other blemish on Teetan's day was a one-day suspension for causing interference aboard Thriving Brothers approaching the first turn.
