Invincible Ibis dazzles ahead of Four-Year-Old Classic Series

[Wandering Eyes]

Mark Newnham reached a significant milestone on Saturday at Sha Tin as leading Karaka graduate, Invincible Ibis (Hellbent), passed yet another crucial test on his march towards the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) – the opening leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series – on 1 February.

Celebrating his 100th Hong Kong training win with the young gun’s victory in the Class 3 Poinsettia Handicap (1600m), Newnham joined Caspar Fownes at the top of the trainers’ championship on 25 victories this term over Danny Shum (23 wins) and David Hayes (21).  

“It’s good to get the 100 out of the way. We’ve been stuck on 99 – I felt like a bad cricketer. It was going to come; I’m just pleased it came with this horse in this race. He’s a nice, progressive horse,” Newnham said. “That should see his rating lift to get him into the Four-Year-Old Classic Series. He’ll need another race before then, but he’s on his way and he’s improving every start.”

Stepping from barrier three, Invincible Ibis hugged the rail while midfield. The field fanned across the straight turning for home as the Hellbent gelding stole ground under a cool Zac Purton ride, before saluting by one and three quarter lengths in 1m 34.97s.

“He’s always given that indication that he’s going to run 1600 (metres) out strongly, but first run you need to see them do it. Zac gave him a perfect ride, the gaps opened up for him, so he had the advantages with an inside gate (three), but he still had to put them away and he did it well,” Newnham said.

After success earlier with Hong Kong International Sale graduate Circuit Fiery (NZ) (Tavistock) in the first section of the Class 5 Amaryllis Handicap (1400m) for trainer Chris So, Purton became the first to reach 50 wins for the campaign with his bookending double.

Purton said: “He (Invincible Ibis) keeps improving which is a nice thing. He did it a different way today, coming inside and through them. He keeps doing what we ask him to do.”

Invincible Ibis was sold by Kilgravin Lodge at the 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale for $425,000 to trainer Mark Newnham.

The Four-Year-Old Classic Series also features the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 1 March and ends with the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 22 March.

Lyndhurst Farm graduate Sky Trust (So You Think) earlier propelled Caspar Fownes to the top of the trainers’ standings – before Newnham levelled up – with a smart victory in the HK$2.84 million Class 2 Ivy Handicap (1200m) under jockey Maxime Guyon.

Having trained seven winners this month, Fownes is aiming to carry today’s momentum into Tuesday’s fixture at Happy Valley, where he has nine entries. 

“It’s nice to see a horse like this perform at this Class 2 level,” Fownes said. “He’s a horse that can go further – he’ll be better at 1400 (metres) – so there’s some races coming up and, hopefully, we can get another win for the owners.” 

Guyon, who grabbed a double, said: “We had a perfect run behind the leaders. I travelled very well, he showed a good turn of foot, and we had a light weight today.”

Emblazon (Zoustar) dominated the Class 4 Pok Oi Cup Handicap (130lb) for trainer Cody Mo and jockey Jerry Chau. The four-year-old was sold through the Riversley Park draft at the Ready To Run Sale also began a double for Mo, who also won the Class 4 Erica Handicap (1400m) with Nyx Gluck (NZ) (Redwood) and jockey James McDonald.

“This race worked out well for him (Nyx Gluck), he got a good draw (one) and James McDonald did very well. In the future, he will go a bit further, but for now this trip seems to be good for him,” Mo said.

McDonald, who concluded his short-term riding stint on Saturday, steered Fit For Beauty (NZ) (Vanbrugh) to success in the Class 4 Hibiscus Handicap (1600m) for trainer John Size.

View the full article