Leung lands Sha Tin treble
HONG KONG - Faced with a mammoth task to overtake Matthew Chadwick and Vincent Ho for the Tony Cruz Award as Hong Kong’s most successful home-grown jockey for the 2021/22 season, Derek Leung refuses to concede the battle is lost after a treble at Sha Tin yesterday.
Trailing Chadwick (54) and Ho (49) with 47 wins – and having comfortably surpassed his previous best of 39 wins in a campaign – Leung has only 20 races from the last two meetings to make inroads.
On a day when the contest for the jockeys’ and trainers’ championships were largely unchanged with Zac Purton and Joao Moreira riding a winner each to maintain the status quo at 132-130, and Frankie Lor (90) and John Size (84) failing to add to their totals, Leung is hoping for a miracle.
“I need a lot of luck and something magical, but I will do my best,” he said. “This is my best season and I’m still hungry, and I want to ride more winners before the end of the season.
“I’m very happy to come back in this way from suspension. Things are going well at the moment, but I want to ride more winners.”
Leung scored on Chicken Dance for Paul O’Sullivan, Woodfire Bro for Peter Ho and All Riches for Ricky Yiu, who shared training honours on the card with Cruz.
For all of Leung’s gains, Chadwick’s victory on Cruz’s talented Beauty Charge in the Class 3 Stevenson Cup Handicap (1,200m) means Ho and Leung – who both retain mathematical chances of the Tony Cruz Award victory – face a monumental task with opportunities dwindling ahead of Saturday’s season finale. - HKJC
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