Peter Ho Leung’s 63rd birthday party at Happy Valley on Thursday night was bittersweet for the veteran trainer as he continued to fight for his career.
Ho celebrated his first double this season, but the Class Five victories of Jubilation and Viva A La did not count towards the Jockey Club’s performance criteria he must meet to retain his licence.
Single-site trainers such as Ho must register at least 16 wins, of which a maximum of two Class Five victories count for the purposes of the Jockey Club’s licensing protocols, not to receive a strike.
Ho has two strikes on his record. Three strikes and you are out unless you persuade the Jockey Club’s licensing committee to make a rare exception.
With three meetings left on this term’s programme, Ho-prepared gallopers have won 16 races. However, the trainer had already tasted success in two Class Five contests before Jubilation and Viva A La triumphed in the bottom grade on Thursday night.
Asked if all Class Five victories should count towards the Jockey Club’s performance criteria that threaten to end his 26 years as a licence holder, Ho said: “As a trainer, it’s very difficult to train a Class Five horse to get a win. They should count because they’re making a contribution to the Jockey Club as well, especially as a Class Five owner is more appreciative of a winner than most owners.”
Jubilation’s second success this season was the first leg of Ho’s double, the gelding winning the Class Five Fa Hui Park Handicap (1,650m) under his most frequent rider, Keith Yeung Ming-lun.
And jubilation summed up Ho’s post-race mood after the handler’s long-term plan paid dividends.
“He’s only four, but after the 2,200m race in which he finished second, he dropped his form,” Ho said of Jubilation, runner-up to Management Folks over the extended journey at Happy Valley on December 14.
“I spoke to his owner and said, ‘Don’t try to chase him to get a winner. He needs time to gain his confidence’. In the past two weeks, I’ll trialled him. He was back in form. He won the race. It worked perfectly. I’m so happy. My best birthday present.”
Viva A La led all the way under Alexis Badel to win the Class Five Kowloon Park Handicap (1,200m), but the Showcasing gelding will need a hefty penalty to get the green light to race on as a five-year-old because he shed his maiden tag off a mark of 18.
Ho praised the Jockey Club for its reassessment of his recent 11-rated winner Splendid Star, whose mark rose to 26 following his victory on June 28.
“Last week, the handicapper did Splendid Star a big favour,” Ho said. “I really appreciate what he did for him, and it was very good for his owner.
“I’ll try to have a good discussion with the handicapper because Viva A La had a health problem when he came to Hong Kong, and he’s only four. He’s really just starting his career now.
“I need two more wins. I’m still struggling. I hope I can do it. In the next two or three meetings, I have some good chances. It depends if I have luck or not.”
Zac Purton became the second rider to reach 1,600 Hong Kong victories when Reward Smile was the final leg of the six-time champion jockey’s treble.
However, the highlight of Purton’s latest multiple was neither Reward Smile nor Sergeant Pepper but Stoltz, the scintillating winner of the Class Two Hong Kong Park Handicap (1,000m). Francis Lui Kin-wai’s sprinter stopped the clock at 55.93, only eight one-hundredths of a second outside his track record.
“I’m happy to see him come back. Last season, he had a problem, and he had to take a break for the first half of this season,” said Lui of Stoltz.
“His record shows he likes Happy Valley very much, but I think 1,000m at either course suits him. That’s why he won at Sha Tin the start before this one.”
Purton’s treble lifted him to 169 victories this term, one away from Joao Moreira’s single-season record of 170 wins, while Lui leapfrogged Caspar Fownes at the top of the unofficial King of the Valley ladder courtesy of his double.
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