Alexis Badel has ridden through enough Hong Kong seasons to know a slow start can turn in a single night and his season turned at Happy Valley on Wednesday night with a treble.
Badel arrived at the meeting on seven wins from 107 rides this season. He left it on 10 after winning on Lovely Miles, Cheerful Wongchoy and Pope Cody, the three-timer moving him from 10th to equal seventh in the jockeys' championship.
"I've been here long enough to know that everything can turn pretty quickly," Badel said. "I had a couple of days' suspension early on, and that's never easy, but I'm happy with the support I get. Tonight was one of those nights where everything unfolded well for my horses. The track suited them and they never let me down."
The 36-year-old made his Hong Kong debut in 2016 and began this season on 311 local wins. He rode a career-best 58 winners in 2020-21 and finished last season on 37.
Badel admitted he ended up in front on Douglas Whyte's Cheerful Wongchoy almost by accident. He was concentrating on the horse's rhythm, and the lead came to him.
"On a night like this I was really focusing on the rhythm. I didn't care about the position," he said. "All I was trying to do was get my horse into a rhythm I was happy with, and wherever I am, I am. It's all about rhythm and momentum."
But arguably his best ride came later on Tsui Yu-sak's tough grinder Pope Cody in the Class 3 Fung Mo Handicap over 1,800 meters. Badel made his move mid-race when the tempo dropped.
"I know Pope Cody has good stamina," Badel said. "When they slowed the speed, my horse was happy to travel even though he carried the top weight. I knew he wouldn't let me down, so I just improved and got him balanced."
Badel now turns to Saturday's Panasonic Cup at Sha Tin, where he rides Frankie Lor Fu-chuen's Solid State in the Class 2 1,200m. The four-year-old won by more than five lengths under Badel in July. He then ran second as a 1.5 favorite over 1,000m first-up this season before going down by a short head to Bunta Baby next start.
Badel had a simple explanation for that first-up defeat and admitted the unconventional shift back to 1,000m had not worked.
"First-up, he was a new horse, still inexperienced, he had top weight and he wasn't fit," he said. "The 1,000m was too short. He'd been flat out over 1,200m on debut carrying a lighter weight."
The following Sunday, Badel teams up with Bottomuptogether in the Group 2 Jockey Club Sprint and Gentlemen Legacy in the Group 2 Jockey Club Cup over 2,000m.
Romantic Warrior's absence has left that race wide open.
"Being in the race is one thing, but being in the race on a horse that has a bit of form is another," Badel said. "We'll figure it out, but I'm happy with what I have. I think they should both run well."
