Caspar Fownes stretches championship lead as Cody Mo posts a treble
Bidding for a fifth Hong Kong trainers’ championship, Caspar Fownes tightened his grip on the 2025/26 title after teaming with Joao Moreira for a winner at Happy Valley on Wednesday night ensuring a five-win buffer as Cody Mo took training honours on the night with a treble.
With only six meetings left in the season, Fownes (64 wins) leads Danny Shum (59), Mark Newnham (58), Francis Lui (54) and David Hayes (52) after Moreira piloted Sky Cap (Capitalist) to victory in the Class 3 Des Voeux Road Central Handicap (1000m) with a copybook ride.
Since returning to Hong Kong as Fownes’ retained jockey, four-time Hong Kong champion jockey Moreira has racked up 24 wins – 21 for Fownes – including Sky Cap, who earned a PP Bonus of HK$1.5 million.
“It’s (every win) getting crucial at this stage. I’m very happy for the owners (Kwan Yui Man), they’re one of my biggest supporters, the whole (Kwan) family. They’re the most beautiful people to train for – they let me do my job and never hassle me,” Fownes said.
“I’m so happy to get the win for them and on top of that, to get the first win bonus, which is great. The horse has done a good job for us. We dropped the horse back to 1000m and I said to Joao just give him a chance to just get in behind the speed – one out, one back. That was the winning move. He just lasted so I’m very happy.”
Mo slotted a three-timer with Flying Fortune (Sweynesse), Meowth (Showtime) and Jumbo Treasure (Written Tycoon) to continue his rise through the trainers’ ranks. With 20 wins in his first HK season and 40 in his second campaign, Mo has tallied 45 wins so far in 2025/26.
“I’m very happy with the three wins,” Mo said after Jumbo Treasure sprinted hard late to land the Class 3 Leighton Road Handicap (1200m) to give Derek Leung a double.
“We freshened him up and we had a good barrier (one) and he got a good run. The freshen up worked.”
Mo combined with Vincent Ho to snare the second section of the Class 4 Morrison Hill Road Handicap (1650m) with Flying Fortune before teaming with Luke Ferraris and Meowth to win the Class 4 Racing World 50th Anniversary Cup Handicap (1200m).
Rosewood Fleetfoot (Proisir) made it two course and distance victories in a row with a tough staying performance to clinch the Class 5 Ice House Street Handicap (2200m) for Ricky Yiu and Karis Teetan before All Are Mine (New Bay) steamed home to land the Class 5 Westlands Road Handicap (1650m) under Alexis Badel to continue Brett Crawford’s excellent debut season in Hong Kong, delivering the trainer’s 23rd winner.
Manfred Man fired in a double when Blossomy (Love Conquers All) made it two wins from his past three starts when he ran on solidly to wear down Charming Legend (Deep Field) and snare the first section of the Class 4 Morrison Hill Road Handicap (1650m), as Danica’s Choice (Swiss Ace) broke through in the first section of the Class 4 Connaught Road Central Handicap (1200m) for Hugh Bowman.
Formerly known as Mallister when trained by Annabelle Johnson in New Zealand, Danica’s Choice surged powerfully late to down Cloud Nine (Tiger Heart).
“I told the owner I was confident he [Danica’s Choice] had a chance because last time, he was close. This time, I was just worried about the draw, but he still won,” Man said.
Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin on Saturday.
Hong Kong Champion Awards finalists announced
The finalists for the 2025/26 Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Awards have been unveiled ahead of next month’s presentation ceremony.
The final nominees were announced during Wednesday night’s Happy Valley meeting, with Hong Kong Jockey Club Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges revealing the shortlisted contenders alongside Executive Director of Racing Andrew Harding, Executive Director of Sports Business Casper Stylsvig and Year of the Horse Ambassador Aaron Kwok.
The six-member judging panel comprises three Hong Kong Jockey Club representatives and three members from the Association of Hong Kong Racing Journalists.
Representing the HKJC are Engelbrecht-Bresges, Andrew Harding and Head of Racing Product Greg Carpenter, while the journalists’ panel consists of Association chairman Carlos Wu, vice-chairman Cheung Kam Yau and committee member Toto Wong.
The judging panel acknowledged the outstanding performances of all finalists throughout the 2025/26 season and congratulated the connections of each nominated horse. The Champion Awards presentation will be held at the Rosewood Hong Kong on Friday, July 10.
| Horse of the Year | To be elected from winners of the respective categories, excluding Champion Griffin
|
| Champion Sprinter (1400m or below) |
· KA YING RISING |
| Champion Miler (Over 1400m to below 1800m) |
· MY WISH
· ROMANTIC WARRIOR · VOYAGE BUBBLE
|
| Champion Middle-Distance Horse (1800m to below 2200m) |
· ROMANTIC WARRIOR
|
| Champion Stayer (2200m and over) |
· ROMANTIC WARRIOR
|
| Champion Four-Year-Old
(For four-year-olds as on 1 January of the current season) |
· INVINCIBLE IBIS
· LITTLE PARADISE · NUMBERS · STORMY GROVE
|
| Champion Griffin
(For horses which arrived in Hong Kong unraced, debuted in the current season and were aged either 2 or 3 on 1 January, 2026)
|
· BABY SAKURA
· HOT DELIGHT · SALON S · TYCOON RESOURCES
|