Fresh from Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) success last week, Luke Ferraris continued a barnstorming season with victory on Mr Ascendency in the HK$3.12 million Class 2 Tsun Yip Handicap (1650m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (5 February).
Triumphant after My Wish’s brilliant win in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile for Mark Newnham, Ferraris combined with Ricky Yiu to land the midweek feature aboard Mr Ascendency with a perfectly-timed ride.
Sitting second last on the rails throughout, Ferraris angled Mr Ascendency (122lb) into the clear approaching the 300m before taking a narrow gap between leader and eventual runner-up Telecom Fighters (119lb) and Helene Feeling (133lb), who finished third, to win comfortably.
Built on similar lines to My Wish, Mr Ascendency concedes weight and stature to his rivals, but compensates with determination.
“He (Mr Ascendency) is a lovely horse, this little fellow. He’s got plenty of heart. He’s another one who lacks size, but makes up for it in heart,” said Ferraris, who celebrated post-race with his father and former Hong Kong-based trainer, David Ferraris.
“I had a dream run throughout and the splits came when I needed them to and he hit them really hard. He’s a game little horse. Credit to Ricky and his team, he’s backed up over a short period and he’s never felt better and he’s won a good race.”
Reflecting on his Hong Kong Classic Mile success and a Chinese New Year Raceday treble, Ferraris said: “It’s back to business now and it’s good to get one on the board.”
Ferraris, 23, is fourth in the 2024/25 jockeys’ championship with 25 wins behind Zac Purton (82), Hugh Bowman (38) and Vincent Ho (27) as the he bears down on his previous best seasonal haul of 35 wins set in 2022/23.
Mr Ascendency finished second to stablemate Green N White in the Class 2 Chinese New Year Cup Handicap (1400m) on Friday (31 January) and validated Yiu’s decision to back him up with a gritty performance.
“He ran a good second last Friday and pulled up really well. I couldn’t fault him. I kept monitoring him every morning because it’s only five days between runs,” Yiu said. “Up to this morning, I knew he would perform again. He’s nearly up to his peak.
“The English horses have long-lasting racing careers. They’ve got good spirit. Luke Ferraris is riding with a lot of confidence these days. He’s a good jockey.”
Purton and Matthew Poon slotted doubles with the latter notching his 100th Happy Valley winner when Yiu-trained Hayday triumphed in the first section of the Class 4 Wai Yip Handicap (1200m).
“It’s nice to win on this horse,” Poon said. “I won on this horse twice last season and the owner, Paul (Lau), and Ricky have been very supportive of me. It’s nice to win for them.”
David Eustace’s Fortune Whiskey delivered Poon’s 23rd winner of the season with victory in the Class 4 The Volunteers’ Challenge Cup Handicap (1200m) before a masterful Purton ride was pivotal to David Hall’s Northern Beast (134lb) win in the Class 4 Hoi Yuen Handicap (1800m).
Purton completed a brace with a clever front-running ride on David Hayes-trained Soleil Fighter in the Class 3 Yue Man Handicap (1650m).
Douglas Whyte celebrated a double, scoring with Glory B and Red Elegance. Glory B provided Whyte and Lyle Hewitson with their third win of the season in tandem when successful in the third section of the Class 4 Wai Yip Handicap (1200m) before Hugh Bowman drove Red Elegance to victory in the Class 3 Mut Wah Handicap (1000m).
Jamie Richards made it two wins in as many meetings when Gallant Valour prevailed in the Class 3 Shui Wo Handicap (1200m) under Brenton Avdulla. In the closest finish of the meeting, Gallant Valour triumphed by a head with a short head to third place-getter Happy Fat Cat.
Confringo scored in the Class 5 Hung To Handicap (1650m) to give Cody Mo his 23rd victory for the campaign. Ridden for the first time by Harry Bentley, the Trapeze Artist gelding lunged late to win by a short head after seven unplaced previous attempts.
Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin on Sunday (9 February) with TVB Raceday.
By Leo Schlink
