Twin Delight (yellow colours)
Hong Kong Jockey Club
NZ-bred galloper Twin Delight (NZ) (Perfectly Ready) landed a pari-mutuel shocker when winning the Class 1 Kwangtung Handicap Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday.
Dispatched at odds of 267-1, the Caspar Fownes trainee jumped first under Derek Leung from the widest barrier in the 12-horse field, settled two wide on the lead, and held-off the 1.9 favourite Joyful Trinity by a short head to complete the upset.
"Do you believe that?" an incredulous Leung pondered aloud when returning to the winner's enclosure.
"When we studied the field, I didn't think there was too much pace as the race had plenty of stayers, so the trainer told me to settle where he was happy. When he jumped very smart, I just let him go a bit farther on the lead and he did it."
The son of Perfectly Ready, who raced as Al Strada in New Zealand, was second in a Class 1 handicap twice at Happy Valley last season, but tasted top class success in Hong Kong for the first time today. Twin Delight's win represented his first placing from 15 tries at Sha Tin, having secured four wins and four seconds from 13 starts at Happy Valley Racecourse.
"It's incredible," Fownes said. "He's a horse who always runs around fit, but he's never really done much at Sha Tin. It's a bit of a surprise. We love it. He's done his job."
The 267-1 return was the highest win price recorded in Hong Kong since Hello Kimberley (NZ) (One Cool Cat) scored at 244-1 on 24 May 2015. The all-time Hong Kong record is a 317-1 success from Winning Associates on 13 October 2001.
Matthew Chadwick got on the board in the new term with a win in the Class 3 Chinese Recreation Club Challenge Cup (Handicap), rousing Lucky Day (NZ) (Coat's Choice) to a short-head success over Lotus Breeze.
"We drew a nice gate [three] and thought off of his trial he had a good chance today. He jumped well and we had a nice position and he tried his heart out at the end," said Chadwick, who has partnered the New Zealand-bred gelding by Coats Choice to three of his four lifetime wins.
"The offseason did him well. He had a lot of racing last season and with a bit of a break, everything went to plan today." -HKJC
Dispatched at odds of 267-1, the Caspar Fownes trainee jumped first under Derek Leung from the widest barrier in the 12-horse field, settled two wide on the lead, and held-off the 1.9 favourite Joyful Trinity by a short head to complete the upset.
"Do you believe that?" an incredulous Leung pondered aloud when returning to the winner's enclosure.
"When we studied the field, I didn't think there was too much pace as the race had plenty of stayers, so the trainer told me to settle where he was happy. When he jumped very smart, I just let him go a bit farther on the lead and he did it."
The son of Perfectly Ready, who raced as Al Strada in New Zealand, was second in a Class 1 handicap twice at Happy Valley last season, but tasted top class success in Hong Kong for the first time today. Twin Delight's win represented his first placing from 15 tries at Sha Tin, having secured four wins and four seconds from 13 starts at Happy Valley Racecourse.
"It's incredible," Fownes said. "He's a horse who always runs around fit, but he's never really done much at Sha Tin. It's a bit of a surprise. We love it. He's done his job."
The 267-1 return was the highest win price recorded in Hong Kong since Hello Kimberley (NZ) (One Cool Cat) scored at 244-1 on 24 May 2015. The all-time Hong Kong record is a 317-1 success from Winning Associates on 13 October 2001.
Matthew Chadwick got on the board in the new term with a win in the Class 3 Chinese Recreation Club Challenge Cup (Handicap), rousing Lucky Day (NZ) (Coat's Choice) to a short-head success over Lotus Breeze.
"We drew a nice gate [three] and thought off of his trial he had a good chance today. He jumped well and we had a nice position and he tried his heart out at the end," said Chadwick, who has partnered the New Zealand-bred gelding by Coats Choice to three of his four lifetime wins.
"The offseason did him well. He had a lot of racing last season and with a bit of a break, everything went to plan today." -HKJC