Without fanfare and a typical minimum of fuss, Francis Lui is quickly closing in on a significant milestone as one of Hong Kong racing’s ultimate quiet achievers.
Sitting second in the trainers’ championship with 26 wins and trailing only his former assistant Pierre Ng (41), Francis continues to excel and, after a double on Thursday night (4 January), he is set to soon join a select group of trainers to saddle 900 wins or more in Hong Kong.
Of Hong Kong’s active horsemen, only John Size (1,513), Tony Cruz (1,478), Caspar Fownes (1,084) and Ricky Yiu (972) have more victories than Francis, whose career tally of 891 places him in rarified company.
Synonymous with Hong Kong’s greatest horse GOLDEN SIXTY, and his superb management of the champion, Francis has also shown impressive skills in recent seasons with several other horses, including the emerging CHANCHENG GLORY as well as established performers STOLTZ and PACKING TREADMILL.
Francis finished second in the 2022/23 trainers’ championship with a career-best season of 67 wins and, based on his current winning strike rate of 14.13%, he is well placed to amass a similar number of wins this season.
As a graduate of the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School and as former jockey, Francis has been part of the Club’s fabric since the early 1970s and he is a shining example of what can be achieved with hard work and dedication.
Vincent Ho, another product of the Club’s comprehensive development programmes, has been a key ally for Francis both with his formidable riding skills and also his feedback – not least with the preparation of GOLDEN SIXTY.
Like Francis, Vincent is an unassuming character and, after a delayed start to the season because of injury, he now occupies a top-five position in the jockeys’ championship with 19 wins to trail only Zac Purton (50), Karis Teetan (35), Hugh Bowman (23) and Angus Chung (20).
Karis is another hard-working professional who continues to reap deserved rewards from his toil. His double on Thursday night was the sixth time across the past eight meetings that he has ridden multiple winners and his ability to ride lightly-weighted horses makes him an attractive option for trainers.
The midweek racing at Happy Valley was typically competitive and never more so than in the Class 2 finale when MAJESTIC KNIGHT had only a head to spare over WONDER KIT with the talented HOWDEEPISYOURLOVE only a further short head away in third.
The atmosphere on course was very good and the entertainment provided by Rechelle Mansour and her band in the beer garden was fantastic. The feedback from our customers certainly suggested that they had enjoyed Rechelle’s performance.
At Sha Tin on Sunday (7 January), the feature race is the G3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy Handicap over 1000m. Carded as race 7 at 4.05pm, the race carries HK$4.2 million in prize money. The pace will be good.
VICTOR THE WINNER has brilliant gate speed and should lead with WHIZZ KID and SEASONS WIT also in the leading division.
VICTOR THE WINNER ran an outstanding race in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint when he jumped quickly but then handed the lead up to JASPAR KRONE, sitting outside that horse before surging to the front at the 300m mark. VICTOR THE WINNER was run down by LUCKY SWEYNESSE at the 100m mark and faded in the final stages to run fourth.
VICTOR THE WINNER comes back to the 1000m for the first time under race conditions and will have benefitted from time at Conghua since his last run. Despite giving weight to all his rivals he will be hard to run down. Hugh Bowman has had one ride on VICTOR THE WINNER for one win previously and he is my win and place selection.
INVINCIBLE SAGE is an emerging sprinter who is unbeaten at three runs this season all over the straight 1000m course. INVINCIBLE SAGE jumped well but then stalked the speed before running home strongly to beat CARROLL STREET and WONDER KIT at his latest run on 17 December. Alexis Badel rides the David Hall-trained four-year-old for the first time and, although he sits 6lb out of the handicap, INVINCIBLE SAGE is a place chance.
DUKE WAI was third in this race last season and ran well for fifth behind LUCKY SWEYNESSE in the Hong Kong Sprint at his last run. He is in good form and has in-form jockey Karis Teetan on board. He is a three-time course and distance winner plus he is working well, which makes him a place chance.
There are a number of other chances in the race with horses like SEASONS WIT and WHIZZ KID being short-course specialists. FLYING ACE has been very consistent, having been narrowly beaten in four runs this season and is in good form while SUPER WEALTHY is a two-time winner at Group Three level over 1000m.
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