Pierre Ng is looking to up the ante in his bid to win a maiden Hong Kong trainers' championship when he heads to Happy Valley on Wednesday night armed with eight chances across the nine-race fixture.
Ng led by 16 wins at Christmas, but now his margin is five (55-50) as a rampaging Francis Lui surged to a half-century with a treble at Sha Tin on Sunday.
“They're chasing hard – it is what it is. We'll just keep going and hopefully we can get a few more winners, I think we have done a very good job this season,” Ng said.
Ng's entries for the midweek programme are Island Surprise, Medic Elite, Team Happy, Dragon Star, Captain Win, Ka Ying Cheer, Excel Wongchoy and Quantum Patch.
The handler has booked Zac Purton for Dragon Star, while Hugh Bowman partners Ka Ying Cheer and Quantum Patch.
“Finally, he (Quantum Patch) gets a good draw (two). Luckily, we have Hughie on, I tried to get Zac but he's unavailable. Hopefully, he gets another win for us,” Ng said.
Captain Win lines up with Karis Teetan up, who comfortably holds second place in the jockeys' championship on 61 wins.
“Captain Win has been knocking on the door,” Ng said. “He's been running really well and I am just looking forward to having one win for the owner. He hasn't won since he joined my stable and I am really looking forward to that.”
Star four-year-old Galaxy Patch stepped out for Ng in a barrier trial on Tuesday under Teetan at Sha Tin, finishing first over 1200m on the dirt in a time of 1:10.48 after coming from off the pace.
“He did very well. It was quite easy enough and his racing manner seems to be more mature. The jockey felt like he has really improved from his last race,” Ng said.
The four-time winner was second in the HK$13 million Group 1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) and HK$26 million Hong Kong Derby (2000m) across his last two starts.
“He's been very impressive over pretty much every distance. What I'm looking for is a good run against Golden Sixty. We'll be happy, and to just learn from that race – he will be a better horse next season,” Ng said.
“He definitely does settle now. During the trial he settled more, so he's much easier to handle. We're just trying to switch him into a ‘press button horse' and he did that in the trial, so I'm happy enough.”
Blake Shinn will ride Galaxy Patch for a second straight time in the HK$22 million Group 1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) on April 28 at Sha Tin.
“He's definitely special. To finish second in the Derby and second in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup – he is something that we can look forward to over the next two seasons,” Ng said.