Smart young sprinter Key Witness looks bound for bigger things and he certainly seems to have a sense of occasion to match his as-yet-untapped ability after an impressive win brought up another milestone for his trainer Tony Cruz.

Owned by Archie and Betty da Silva, and thus carrying the colours of Hong Kong's greatest racehorse Silent Witness - who Cruz also prepared - Key Witness' win with Douglas Whyte aboard in a Class One handicap was Cruz's 1,000th success in an illustrious training career.

Three weeks after winning the Hong Kong Jockey Club 130th Anniversary Cup, Key Witness put his rating into triple figures with a comfortable one-and-a-half length win that afterwards had Cruz, who also rode 946 winners in Hong Kong as a jockey - second only to Whyte - reminiscing about his wonderful career in and out of the saddle.

"I am very proud to have won 1,000 races as a trainer, and I guess now I can look forward to 2,000 winners combined as a jockey and trainer - that's never been done before," he said.

"It was meant to be that this horse was win number 1,000, for Archie and in those colours. We were beaten a short head earlier in the day with Wah May Baby, so really Multimax could have been the milestone," he said, referring to his Class Four win earlier in the programme.

"It really is something special," Cruz continued. "Archie is a great friend - training Silent Witness for him created a bond between us. They told me I was getting close to 1,000 wins last Wednesday night, so I came here feeling excited that I could bring it up with some good chances."

Key Witness was one of six favourites to score on the day when he was trimmed up late to start even money favourite before Whyte made perfect use of barrier two to position the chestnut gelding in a one-off spot just behind the speed.

After trailing Super Jockey into the straight he was able to kick away and hold off the well-supported Let Me Go and former star griffin Bear Hero.

"It was a great ride from Dougie and it was great to have him ride that winner for me," said Cruz, indicating he would now look for a Group Three race for his emerging four-year-old and would not rush him into a clash with sprint sensation and stablemate Peniaphobia.

Da Silva said the next start for Key Witness was "critical" to see where the son of Show A Heart and winner of five from 15 really stacked up.

"I thought he actually improved again today, so that was encouraging, as was the time he ran," da Silva said after the gelding won in 1 minute, 08.65 seconds, nearly half a second under standard for Class One. "If there is still some improvement left in him, then he can compete in the premier class, but let's wait and see. I am very happy."