David Eustace landed his first Group 2 win in Hong Kong when stable cornerstone Light Years Charm beat a strong field in the Sha Tin Trophy (1600m) on Monday, the highlight of a treble that has the young trainer eyeing the city’s richest race.
Light Years Charm settled midfield from barrier two for Karis Teetan under the minimum 115 pounds and ran down the long-time leader Patch of Theta to win by a length and three-quarters. Defending champion My Wish was third and race favorite Sky Jewellery fourth.
“I thought he could run well, given the draw and the weight,” Eustace said. “Obviously, I thought the favorite would be hard to beat.”
Eustace said the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Cup – now worth $40 million – at Sha Tin on December 13 is the main goal.
“Yeah, well, we have been working back from December. I was keen to target the Cup, the 2,000-meter race, with him. I feel he’ll stay that well,” he said.
The Group 2 BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile on November 22 is the likely next step, though it is not locked in. “Gut feel is that we will still head in that direction, but we’ll see,” he said.
Light Years Charm has been central to Eustace making his name in Hong Kong. He won four of the trainer’s 36 races in his first season in 2024-25 and gave him his first group win in the Group 3 Lion Rock Trophy late last season.
Monday’s win puts Light Years Charm on an honor roll of modern greats that includes Golden Sixty, Beauty Generation, Ambitious Dragon, Designs On Rome, Military Attack and California Spangle.
Eustace’s big day began when Jerry Chau Chun-lok guided outsider Shannon Glow to victory in a Class 4, before Zac Purton won on Ace Eagle in the race before the feature. The treble took Eustace to 10 winners for the season.
“I thought we had a nice team of horses for the season, and, you know, they’ve started in good form and hopefully they can continue to do so,” he said.
