RACEDAY FOCUS: Yip looks to follow Cruz off the mark

Tony Cruz finally broke through at Happy Valley on Wednesday after 55 runners without a winner, leaving three trainers still searching for their first success of the season.

Jimmy Ting Koon-ho remains winless after 23 runners, while James Cummings is still on zero from just seven starters after a difficult run of barriers and a stable that was always expected to take time to get going.

Then there is Dennis Yip Chor-hong.

Yip has sent out 38 runners for two seconds, two thirds, two fourths and two fifths, but his blank does not carry quite the same sense of frustration that surrounded Cruz.

Thirty of those 38 runners have started at double-figure odds, their median starting price sitting at $23. On the market’s assessment, Yip’s entire team carried an expectation of only a little more than two winners.

Sunday shapes differently, however, as promising types Mega Captain and Cava Pioneer both look genuine chances and Zac Purton takes the ride on each, giving Yip a serious chance to get off the mark. 

Stable switches cut both ways for Ng

A lot has been made of horses leaving Pierre Ng Pang-chi and improving elsewhere, but some credit has to flow the other way too.

Two of Ng’s nine winners this season arrived from other Hong Kong stables. Veteran sprinter Victor The Winner has won twice since joining Ng in January, ending a 21-start drought dating back to January 2024, while Luck Is Back went winless in 16 starts for Francis Lui Kin-wai before moving to Ng in May and struck first-up this season.

There is always more nuance to a stable change than the bare results suggest, but transferred horses have made a notable impact early this season. Packing Fighter has now won twice for Danny Shum, who has also won both starts since taking over Nyx Gluck, while Wave Garden, Flowing Riches, Draco and Robot Lucky Star are among the others to strike after changing yards recently. 

That makes Smart Fat Cat one of the more interesting runners on Sunday. The 14-start maiden has switched from Cody Mo Wai-kit to Ng, completing a curious circle for the same connections after Happy Fat Cat moved from Ng to Mo in 2023. 

Chiu Chow Spirit seeks end to 763-day drought

Manfred Man Ka-leung has been one of the stories of the early season, training 10 winners from 54 runners, but one member of the stable is still waiting to join the party.

Chiu Chow Spirit returns second-up Sunday, 763 days since his last win, a drought that stands out even more against the form of his trainer.

Man began the season with 13 straight defeats, but has since trained at least one winner at each of the past seven meetings, producing 10 victories from 41 runners against a market expectation of just 4.02.

The winners have not always been obvious either. Man struck twice at Happy Valley on Wednesday at $4.70 and $7.20, while the stable has also scored at $13, $39 and $50. Only three of his 10 winners have started at the head of the market.

Chiu Chow Spirit gets another chance under Alexis Badel, who is also looking to bounce back after a frustrating Wednesday. Badel went winless from seven rides despite three favorites and a second favorite, his strongest book of the season by market expectation.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓