Happy Crusader gives trainer Tsui reason to smile with storming run

Trainer Me Tsui Yu-sak continued his blistering start to the new season in snaring a double at Happy Valley last night, but could so easily have made it three. The pair of Happy Crusader (Eric Saint-Martin) and China Hero (Anthony Delpech) took Tsui to a clear second behind trailblazer Almond Lee Yee-tat as he continues to build on a successful second term as a trainer last season.

And Happy Crusader's win had as much sentimental value as it had training merit, as it was less than a year ago that the six-year-old failed to complete a race at the Valley with a fractured pelvis.

The gelding came back for three starts towards the end of last season without finding form, but last night Saint-Martin brought him with a sweeping run from the top of the straight which never looked like being denied.

'Actually, the healing process from the fractured pelvis was quite fast physically,' Tsui said. 'But mentally, the horse has taken much longer. 'When he came back to racing, he was not stretching out, waiting for the pain to come again. But Eric has understood the problem well and worked very hard with me on getting him confident again.'

Confidence was a key with China Hero, too, as Tsui had taken him to trial at Happy Valley earlier in the month to ensure the lightly-raced gelding would get around it, after having finished second last over a mile at his only previous exposure.

'He went around beautifully and I thought he had a winning chance even with the wide barrier,' Tsui said. 'China Hero has shown some ability but the problem with him is that he is not a big eater and it is not easy to keep condition on him, so his races have to be spaced.'

The man who foiled Tsui's treble was Australian jockey Glen Boss, who put himself on the scoreboard for the season with a clever display on Caspar Fownes-trained Prime Target, who held out the late finish of Tsui-trained Meath.