Mi Savvy has the quality to go higher
Richard Gibson is having a fine first season with 16 winners to cement him firmly in mid-pack in the trainers' battle and he will be adding to his totals after an eye-catching debut performance by Mi Savvy in the Ngau Tau Kok Handicap over (1,000m) on Wednesday night at Happy Valley.
Mi Savvy finished third in his only barrier trial last March for his previous trainer Ross McCarroll in New Zealand and has had two hit-outs at Sha Tin and at the city course.
He made some nice ground on the all-weather track behind Indigo Way on November 29 and travelled sweetly with a move to a shadow roll last month to Joyful Joyful over the Valley minimum trip.
The three-year-old was well educated in the mornings and looked solid each time to run a top race.
Punters didn't forget to back him as well and the gelding went around at 6-1.
Mi Savvy recovered after bumping Supreme De Union soon off the break to take up a handy position ahead of eventual winner Ride On The Fire, then lost nearly three lengths to settle two lengths off that rival after having to regain his composure following interference passing the 600m by Ocean Wide, but was pulling back the ground to come up a mere half-length second - zipping the final 400m in 22.64 seconds.
Mi Savvy is bred to be an early-maturing type with the looks to head a lot higher than his opening mark of 52.
He is son of Zabeel stallion Savabeel, who was a smart racehorse in his heyday - racking up three wins (two Group Ones) from 1,000m to 2,050m - and has fathered four other starters in Hong Kong, including Winning Apex and Happy Ha Ha.
On the bottom half of his pedigree, Mi Savvy is out of rich black-type family of Centaine mare Mi Centie - a winner as a two-year-old and multiple stakes placed - and a sister to Centie Lassie (a short-course winner of the Listed SAJC Balcrest Stakes), and half-sister to retired Dansing Fun. Mi Savvy is also a half-brother to retired Mi Reilly, who performed in the same silks for Mark Fong Chung.
Mi Savvy - a robust 1,129 pounder - will have plenty of upside to come and should prove an effective sprinter at both courses.
