HARRY BENTLEY SHINES BRIGHT UNDER HAPPY VALLEY LIGHTS WITH FIRST TREBLE IN ALMOST TWO YEARS
- Englishman capitalises on inside barriers to boot home Winning Heart, Our Lucky Glory and Show Respect
Harry Bentley had a night to remember when he equalled his best Hong Kong performance with a treble at Happy Valley on Wednesday.
The British jockey capitalised on barrier one on each of Tony Cruz's Winning Heart, Chris So Wai-yin's Our Lucky Glory and the Mark Newnham-trained Show Respect to continue his stellar form in the past two months.
After clinching his first Hong Kong three-timer since October 9, 2022, Bentley boosted his tally of winners this season to 26.
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"I came into the night with some great rides and I knew they had nice chances, but it's always good to convert them," Bentley said.
"Obviously [drawing barrier one] always helps. When you get good chances with good draws, especially around Happy Valley, that's a massive bonus.
"The last few months have been strong and I've had good momentum. Coming into each race meeting I've had a few nice chances each time, so that always adds to the confidence. Hopefully that continues."
Bentley's night was somewhat soured by a one-meeting suspension for careless riding on Mr Aladdin in race one.
Zac Purton continued his march towards a seventh jockeys' premiership with a double aboard the David Hayes-trained Snowalot and Beauty Waves, who made a perfect start to his career for the Pierre Ng Pang-chi stable in the Class Three Hok Yuen Handicap (1,000m).
Placed in four of five starts for Douglas Whyte before joining Ng, Beauty Waves delivered on his promise with a half-length victory over Harmony Fire as the $1.6 favourite.
Ng, who leads the trainers' premiership with 53 wins this season, was ecstatic to prepare his first "Beauty" winner for the Kwok family.
"It means so much," Ng said. "I'm just lucky enough to have him at this time and get the win and bonus for the owners.
"He was pretty strong tonight, but I think he's still got a lot to learn. I'll keep him at the same distance and hopefully during the summer time he can get more mature."
So and Hayes shared training honours at the city circuit with doubles.
Giving So a flying start to the programme in the opening race, United Endeavors stormed home from near last to claim the second section of the Class Four To Kwa Wan Handicap (1,650m) for Keith Yeung Ming-lun.
Our Lucky Glory took an inside run for Bentley to overhaul King Eccellente by three quarters of a length in the second section of the Class Four Lok Fu Handicap (1,200m).
"It's good to get a double," So said. "The first winner, Keith did a really good job. He chose to come back to the three-wide line with cover with the slow pace and hit the line and I think that was the key.
"[Our Lucky Glory] is a tiny horse, we cannot run him much and we have to stall. Last time he ran second, but I think the draw tonight helped a lot."
Harmony N Blessed capped Hayes' night with a dominant victory under Andrea Atzeni in the last race, the Class Three Kowloon City Handicap (1,200m).
Elsewhere on the night, Can't Go Wong rewarded Frankie Lor Fu-chuen's patience with his first Hong Kong win at start 18 in the Class Five Wang Tau Hom Handicap (1,650m) under Alexis Badel.
"We've waited for a long time," Lor said of the former Australian galloper, who won his first two starts at Sandown in 2021.
"He was going to the Derby last season, but his form in Hong Kong wasn't very good. He needed more time and his rating dropped, he's now dropped to Class Five and he got the win."
Meanwhile, Vincent Ho Chak-yiu has been cleared to resume riding trackwork and trials on Thursday after recovering from neck and finger injuries sustained in a race fall on January 24.
Ho is expected to reunite with champion galloper Golden Sixty in a Sha Tin trial on Tuesday and is eyeing a return to race riding at Happy Valley on April 10.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
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2024-03-27T16:06:46Z dg43tfdfdgfd
