Grant van Niekerk arrived at the track at Sha Tin yesterday, Sunday, 15 September with a zero in his season's win column. He rectified that situation with victory in the afternoon's second trophy contest, the Class 4 Chinese Recreation Club Challenge Cup Handicap (1400m).
“I'm glad the monkey's off my back,” he said after guiding the Ricky Yiu-trained Simple Elegant to victory.
“With the new jockeys and with Joao (Moreira) becoming a Club rider this season, things are competitive. I can feel it with the rides I've been getting I've had to battle for them. It hasn't been tough, it's just I wasn't riding great horses at the last couple of meetings. I do believe that if I get the chance, I can get the job done too.”
The South African overcame gate 11, grabbed the lead, rolled along and kicked down the straight to a length and a quarter success in a Class record time of 1m 21.15s.
Champion trainer John Size was another to notch his first score of the term. Moreira was the man who made sure Monkey Jewellery's head was first past the post in the Class 4 Sunbird Handicap (1200m). The Hong Kong International Sale graduate's short-head win took his tally to two wins from six starts.