Breathing issues may limit My Little Friend to Sha Tin's straight course for the foreseeable future, but the talented galloper won his way out of Class Three in sparkling style to give Zac Purton his sole winner yesterday.
Benno Yung Tin-pang's four-year-old was sent out a heavily-backed 1.9 favourite, and he made light work of 133 pounds as he raced away along the favoured grandstand rail for an easy win to make it two wins from four starts.
Last start, My Little Friend was a similar quote over the Sha Tin 1,200m, but he finished a disappointing third, three lengths from Gorgeous Debut. Yung opted for a tongue-tie today, and admitted there had been problems which Purton also picked up in a recent dirt barrier trial.
"I trialled him last Tuesday, and he made a noise which may have explained why he didn't perform around a bend last start," Purton said. "Today, back to 1,000m with some speed on, it enabled him to breathe which was crucial."
The jockeys' championship leader entered the nervous 90s with the win, 14 clear of a suspended Joao Moreira, and he admitted he was worried about My Little Friend in the initial stages, when he needed to be urged to keep up.
"He had no rhythm early and I thought he was struggling," he said. "But at the 350m, he got back on the bit again and finished it off really well.
"He definitely feels like he should be a 1,400m horse, but whether he's going to be restricted by his breathing problem - I guess we'll see."
Yung hopes the galloper will measure up in higher grades but the freshman trainer, who is now at 25 wins for the season, said there was every chance My Little Friend will not contribute to his tally again this term.
"It's very tough to win at the top of Class Three, but he did it very easily," he said. "I'll keep him to the straight for now and let him find his limit there."
"I'll wait and see if there's another race for him, but that might be it for him for the season. He'll be even better next season - if he keeps improving he could even make it up to Class One."
