Australian rider Dwayne Dunn gave another faultless display at Sha Tin yesterday to celebrate his first Hong Kong four-timer and throw his name in the ring for the major events on the horizon.
Dunn's tally for the season soared to 17 wins when he racked up Songs Of Praise and Celestial Chief for trainer David Hayes, who won a treble for the day, and added Perfetto for John Size and Tony Millard-trained Sirocco.
'I thought I was a great chance to make it five in the last on The Duke and I told the owners not to worry, that I'd been there before and won five on a day twice in Adelaide,' Dunn said. 'At the 200 metres, I thought I had it too, then I looked around and Able Choice just charged past.'
Dunn said his season had gone well to date, riding winners for more stables than last season when he largely relied on Size and Hayes. 'I've been working very hard and things haven't quite been falling my way - even though I've been picking up a winner here and a winner there, I haven't really been making an impression,' he explained.
'It's the nature of the beast in Hong Kong, I know, that you go through lean patches but it's great to get going like this at this time of year. Hopefully, it will help me get on some nice horses for the good races coming up.'
Size was singing Dunn's praises earlier in the day after he had won only two, when the jockey controlled the pace to lead throughout on Perfetto in the all-weather Class Three event over 1,800 metres.