Pierre Ng Pang-chi has his long-term sights set on Group racing for his promising stayer Le Zonda, who gets his season up and running in the Class Two Shek O Handicap (1,650m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.
The Beckford galloper, a dual winner in Ireland pre-import, took a while to acclimatise to Hong Kong but exploded into life with a dominant 1,800m win at the Valley on his seventh local start.
He swept from the back of the field for that taking success and repeated the feat just under a month later, eating up the ground late to score over the same course and distance.
It was hard not to be taken by those performances, but they were no surprise for Ng, who holds his stayer in high regard and is hoping for a big performance when he breaks from barrier four.
“He’s got a bit stronger and a little more professional over the summer – a mile race should be a little bit sharp for him but after the break, hopefully he’s fresh enough to cope with it,” Ng said.
“In the long term, we will be going for the staying distances with him. We will take it easily with him and hopefully bring his mark up gradually with a view to competing in Group races.
“In the long term, I think 2,000m and even further will really suit him, but he’s not mature enough to do that yet.
“We bought him and we know that he’s a pretty good stayer. He’s showing the early stages of that now and once he’s a bit stronger, the staying races will be perfect for him.”
Ng ended last season in brilliant form and has continued it into this campaign, striking on three occasions, and he will be hoping Refusetobeenglish can be another for his tally in the Class Three Chung Hom Kok Handicap (1,650m).
A winner in Australia before moving to Hong Kong, the son of Churchill has been banging on the door locally, producing his best run so far when second to a runaway winner at the city circuit in July.
Connections will be hoping it can be 13th time lucky for their five-year-old and a step up in distance is likely to play a big factor in that.
“This term, he should have some good results. We’re trying him over the mile, he ended last season with a good run over 1,400m but that’s just a bit sharp for him,” Ng said.
“We could look even further in terms of distance in the future, but the mile should suit him well.”
Another with strong claims for Ng on Wednesday night is Victor The Rapid, who steps out in the Class Four Community Chest Cup (1,200m).
The fast-finishing six-year-old does not win often, securing just one win from 17 starts last campaign, but he has fallen 2lb below that winning rating and has the services of Jerry Chau Chun-lok from barrier six.
“I would have liked to see him run last Wednesday more than this week, because it was a chaser’s track, but he’s in good form and Jerry has been happy with him,” Ng said.
