Precision King (Blue Cap) wins the HKGC Centenary Cup
Hong Kong Jockey Club
Benno Yung had a plan and it all came together at Happy Valley this afternoon, Sunday, 30 October when Precision King (NZ) (Towkay) held off pressing rivals in the day's feature, the Class 2 Hong Kong Golf Club Centenary Cup Handicap, a win that sealed a double for the trainer.
The best laid plans can often go awry, however, and that was almost the case for Yung at declaration stage when his doughty galloper was only first standby for the 12-runner 1650m feature, race seven on the card. But lady luck stepped in on Saturday morning when Photon Willie failed to eat up and was withdrawn with a case of inappetence. Precision King made the cut.
"I targeted this race, this has been the plan, so I was disappointed when he was only a standby," Yung said after the eight-year-old, a 23/1 chance, had claimed a fifth win at start 37 and a first at the distance.
"Luckily he got in and the plan was back on. The horse is getting old and doesn't have the speed he used to have so I thought the 1650 metres would be better for him." Nash Rawiller, originally booked for the Paul O'Sullivan-trained withdrawal, jumped aboard the Yung galloper.
"He's got good tactical speed and he did a good job to get across," Rawiller said. "He got left alone and I was able to rate him where I was happy. I felt, going past the rock, he had a pretty soft time, and into the last six hundred metres I let him quicken up. It was a good win.
"He was actually a bit lost in the straight and was waiting for them a little bit," the jockey added. "When they came at him he picked up again. He was just doing what he had to do and when they came to beat him he found, so it was a good effort."
Precision King clung on by a neck from the John Moore-trained Cheeky Too, with the David Ferraris-trained Pikachu, the 2.4 jolly, a half-length third. The winning time was 1m 41.89s. -HKJC
The best laid plans can often go awry, however, and that was almost the case for Yung at declaration stage when his doughty galloper was only first standby for the 12-runner 1650m feature, race seven on the card. But lady luck stepped in on Saturday morning when Photon Willie failed to eat up and was withdrawn with a case of inappetence. Precision King made the cut.
"I targeted this race, this has been the plan, so I was disappointed when he was only a standby," Yung said after the eight-year-old, a 23/1 chance, had claimed a fifth win at start 37 and a first at the distance.
"Luckily he got in and the plan was back on. The horse is getting old and doesn't have the speed he used to have so I thought the 1650 metres would be better for him." Nash Rawiller, originally booked for the Paul O'Sullivan-trained withdrawal, jumped aboard the Yung galloper.
"He's got good tactical speed and he did a good job to get across," Rawiller said. "He got left alone and I was able to rate him where I was happy. I felt, going past the rock, he had a pretty soft time, and into the last six hundred metres I let him quicken up. It was a good win.
"He was actually a bit lost in the straight and was waiting for them a little bit," the jockey added. "When they came at him he picked up again. He was just doing what he had to do and when they came to beat him he found, so it was a good effort."
Precision King clung on by a neck from the John Moore-trained Cheeky Too, with the David Ferraris-trained Pikachu, the 2.4 jolly, a half-length third. The winning time was 1m 41.89s. -HKJC