Happy Valley hat-trick sees Fownes strike form

Happy Valley hat-trick sees Fownes strike form

Caspar Fownes wrapped up November’s action at Happy Valley Racecourse with a rousing hat-trick on Wednesday (29 November) night that lifted an otherwise dismal month for the handler.

When Premium Champion snatched race three with a timely nod of his chestnut head, it gave Fownes only his second win this month. He snared the evening’s fourth contest with Haymaker, and by the time Cheerfuljet took race five easing down, Fownes had rediscovered his swagger.

Zac Purton guided Cheerfuljet (122lb) to a smooth maiden win at start five in the second section of the Class 4 Kowloon City Handicap (1200m). The Darci Brahma four-year-old was an easy two and a half lengths clear of runner-up Starlot (122lb) passing the winning arch.

That win followed Haymaker’s three-quarter-length score at odds of 9/1 under Vincent Ho in the Class 5 San Po Kong Handicap (1200m). The result sealed a double for the rider, who earlier stole a march in the 1650m Class 5 opener atop Francis Lui’s 22-rated Golden Cannon, a 12/1 shot.

Ho, like his old boss, has endured a lean November, his most recent score before tonight being aboard Dr Win Win at the Valley on 25 October.

Also deserving of victory was Fownes’ Premium Champion (126lb). The Norse Dancer six-year-old produced a relentless, grinding drive under Joao Moreira to collar runner-up Rule Thee (133lb) at the wire. The nose verdict gave the 7.9 chance a second career success over the Valley’s 2200m. 

Another protagonist striking a timely victory was Olivier Doleuze. The veteran French ace teamed with the John Size-trained Perpetual Joyance, a 14/1 shot in race six, section two of the Class 3 Ho Man Tin Handicap (1200m). That triumph ended a winless streak for Doleuze that stretched back to his score aboard Jumbo Happiness at the city track on 5 October.

Matthew Chadwick backed-up a win at Sha Tin on Sunday with victory atop the Tony Cruz-trained California Fortune, a 4.2 chance, in the penultimate race, section one of the Class 3Ho Man Tin Handicap (1200m).

Chad Schofield punched home the Benno Yung-trained Numero Uno, returned at 7.1, in the night’s second event, a Class 4 over 1200m. And Neil Callan galvanised the Richard Gibson-trained King Of Mongolia to a tough win in the finale, the Class 3 Hung Hom Handicap (1800m).

Hong Kong racing resumes at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday, 3 December.