Bowman on fire at Happy Valley as Goko Win and Ivy League taste victory

A double in tandem with Douglas Whyte at Happy Valley on Wednesday night propelled Hugh Bowman to the 60-win milestone for the 2024/25 season – and closer to a season-best tally in Hong Kong racing.

Bowman’s brace on Whyte-trained Goko Win and Ivy League further cemented the Australian’s second placing in the Hong Kong jockeys’ championship behind Zac Purton (104 wins), while Whyte improved his haul to 20 wins for the season.

Goko Win posted his first victory since February, 2023 under a well-executed Bowman ride in the second section of the Class 4 Chantilly Handicap (1200m). Worse than midfield after jumping from barrier one, the Love Conquers All gelding darted through a gap late to clinch his second win from 30 starts in Hong Kong.

Goko Win was paying around the 2.40 quote with horse racing betting sites and on-course and had been heavily backed in a field where he was well placed.

Ivy League (135lb) fended off Thesis (133lb) by a short head in the second section of the Class 4 Saint-Cloud Handicap (1650m) to snare his third win from 35 starts in Hong Kong, despite Bowman fearing the pair had been pipped by Thesis.

Ivy League was a 5.50 quote with online betting sites, behind only Jumbo Fortune (2.80) and Iconical (5.00) in the betting pre-racing.

“I think we got a bit lucky with the bob of the head there, I haven’t seen the replay but I wasn’t convinced I had won,” Bowman said of Ivy League, a son of Galileo who was Group 3-placed in Ireland for Aidan O’Brien before export to Hong Kong.

“He really put in for me. He was aided by a really sweet passage in the race but he was there when I needed him.

“Goko Win was down in class and I was beaten for speed but he travelled superbly and I got the gap in the straight to get the run through and he was solid.”

Bowman netted a career-high 69 winners in the 2023/24 season.

Keefy (126lb) posted his first victory since June last year with a tough win in the Class 3 Deauville Handicap (1650m) under Matthew Poon for Frankie Lor.

A highly-rated four-year-old, Keefy finished fourth in the 2023 BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) behind subsequent Group 1 winners Voyage Bubble and Beauty Eternal (third), but has since struggled to consistently reproduce his best form.

Ridden confidently tonight by Poon, the All Too Hard gelding sat second throughout behind Highland Rahy (120lb) before edging clear to clinch his fourth Hong Kong victory.

Me Tsui’s Telecom Power (116lb) claimed his first win in the Class 4 The France Galop Cup Handicap (1200m) over Always My Folks (119lb) for Harry Bentley for a deserved success after posting three seconds this season.

“He’s obviously been knocking on the door, this horse, and I knew with a good draw (barrier four), I was going to have a really good chance with the light weight and the race went really smoothly,” Bentley said.

“Everything went to plan and once he hit the front, he certainly didn’t want to be there too long.

“I was hoping he would just hold which he fortunately did, which was good for me – I think that was the win he needed for next season.”

John Size combined with Keith Yeung as Perfect Pairing outstayed his rivals to land the Class 4 The French May Trophy Handicap (2200m) to take the 12-time champion trainer’s career tally of Hong Kong wins to 1,599.

Chris So-trained Cool Blue broke through at his 26th start with victory in the Class 5 Auteuil Handicap (1650m) under Matthew Chadwick before Day Day Victory (116lb) made it two wins in a row for Benno Yung with success in the Class 5 Maisons-Laffitte Handicap (1000m) for Alexis Badel.

“1000 metres and in Class 4 with a light weight would be suitable for him,” Yung said of the Hong Kong International Sale graduate. “He’s a later maturer and he’s getting better with experience, so I will just keep him going.”

David Eustace and Karis Teetan successfully teamed up with Amazing Award (123lb) to snare the first section of the Class 4 Saint-Cloud Handicap (1650m) over Satirical Fan (128lb) before David Hayes-trained Chateauneuf slotted a strong win in the Class 3 ParisLongchamp Handicap (1200m) for Luke Ferraris.

Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin on Saturday May 10.