Jimmy Ting Koon-ho enjoyed his best day at the races since 2020 at Sha Tin on Wednesday night, making hay on the dirt to post just the third treble of his career.

The 50-year-old did not waste much time either, snaring three of the first five races to bank his 698-1 haul and move to 21 winners for the campaign.

“This season is just so-so. I hope that later it will be better. This is the best meeting of the season for me,” said Ting, who is yet to slip below 30 wins in a career that began in 2018-19.

Ting got the ball rolling with Smokey Bear in the second section of the Class Four Piper’s Hill Handicap (1,200m), with Zac Purton negotiating barrier 10 to ensure the six-year-old saluted in his first attempt on Sha Tin’s all-weather track.

“Smokey Bear, I thought the draw was too bad, but he’d won in England on the Polytrack, so I thought he could handle the dirt here,” Ting said.

Lucky Victor led throughout from gate one under Angus Chung Yik-lai to snare the Class Five To Fung Shan Handicap (1,650m) by two and three-quarter lengths, producing a stunning form reversal after finishing more than 21 lengths adrift of the winner when last seen in March.

“Lucky Victor wasn’t happy earlier in the season, so I went back to Conghua with him and let him go to the paddock and freshen up. He got a good draw, and that’s why he won,” Ting said.

While Smokey Bear ($7.45) and Lucky Victor ($7.6) started single figures, $12.35 chance Imperial Magee injected some value into Ting’s treble with his fast-finishing success in the first section of the Piper’s Hill Handicap under Harry Bentley.

Not often one to be outdone, runaway jockeys’ premiership leader Zac Purton rung up a treble of his own in the very next race, spearing Gummy Gummy to victory from the front in the Class Three Eagle’s Nest Handicap (1,200m).

Comfortably the hottest favourite on the evening, $1.5 chance Gummy Gummy followed the earlier Purton victories on Smokey Bear and the David Hall-trained Gallant Hero.

Purton timed things to perfection after travelling midfield aboard Gallant Hero in the Class Four Sha Tin Pass Handicap (1,800m), grabbing long-time leader Mission Bravo in the final strides to ensure the five-year-old built on his last-start Class Five win at Happy Valley.

“We decided to take the chance and run him on the dirt over 1,800m, we came up with barrier one and he’s progressing – he put up quite a few good performances earlier in the season to suggest he could win in Class Four. I think he can keep on improving,” Hall said.

The day after the official retirement of their three-time Group One winner Waikuku, the Siu family celebrated a running double to round out the card thanks to victories from Erimo, who took out the Class Three Hung Mui Kuk Handicap (1,650m) under Alexis Badel, and Hava Nageela.

The galloper who brought Golden Sixty’s winning streak to a halt at 16 – one short of Silent Witness’ Hong Kong record – with his second Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) victory in 2022, Waikuku also won the Group One Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) in 2021 and walks away with north of HK$47 million in stakes next to his name.

Hava Nageela completed his hat-trick of victories in the finale, hitting the line strongly under Silvestre de Sousa to win the Class Two Sha Tin Heights Handicap (1,650m) by a length.

Meanwhile, the Jockey Club announced on Wednesday that first-season trainers Pierre Ng Pang-chi and Jamie Richards will be allocated stables at Conghua Racecourse from June 1.

Both handlers are in the midst of strong rookie seasons, with Ng ninth in the premiership on 32 wins and Richards close behind on 30, and will see their stable cap increase from 60 horses to 70 thanks to their dual-site status.

On the flipside, veteran Me Tsui Yu-sak will close his Conghua base from the start of next month and operate solely out of Sha Tin.