Savvy Nature landed a middle distance race in March, but it was not the Hong Kong Derby he had been bought to win - it was the Indian Recreation Club Challenge Cup at Happy Valley last night as a consolation.
Last Sunday, Savvy Nature had been in a battle of sorts for the final place in the 14-horse Derby field and the Jockey Club had elected to put equally rated Golden Sleep into the field ahead of him, but even after last night's win, trainer John Moore accepted the judge's decision.
"Of course, I wanted him to run in the Derby. That was why he was bought, but I do appreciate it was a difficult decision," Moore said after a little of Joao Moreira magic saw Savvy Nature arrive on the line to win last night's trophy.
"Where Savvy Nature ran in the lead-up race made it tough for them to put him ahead of Golden Sleep.
"We'll have to take this one as compensation instead. A winner is a winner anyway and it's nice to get the owner, Mr Siu [Pak-kwan] another trophy race."
Zac Purton looked to have stolen the cup on Twin Delight when he skipped clear on straightening, but Moreira kept at Savvy nature, who had followed Purton's mount through the race, and eventually he wore the leader down.
"I thought he was beaten at the 200m, but he took some time to get into his rhythm and he was strong at the finish of the 1,800m," Moore said.
"The Queen Mother Memorial Cup is definitely on the radar for him over 2,400m, but there should be a race or two for him between now and then."
It was the lone highlight for Moreira on the night, but apprentice Alvin Ng Ka-chun has been showing new confidence in his riding lately and turned in one of the gems of the evening to win on Naughty Baby for his allocated trainer Tony Cruz before making it a double for the yard in the final race on Clever Beaver.
"I'm very happy with Alvin and he'll be getting more chances from my stable. I offered both of these rides to other jockeys and they didn't take them, so I put Alvin on and he didn't let me down on what I thought were my best chances tonight," Cruz said.
"Naughty Baby is a difficult ride for anyone the way he lays in all the time, but Alvin handled him well."
The Naughty Baby ride was a qualifier for ride of the night, but so was Douglas Whyte's beaten effort on Almond Lee-trained First Sight Love, who narrowly failed to get Lee to the benchmark 15 wins he needs to keep his licence, following Lee earlier claiming win 14 for the season with Golden Chopsticks (Alex Lai Hoi-wing).
"So close. I still need one more," Lee said. "For Golden Chopsticks, I really have to thank my staff. The horse has had two tendon injuries on different legs and he is an every day job in the stable. They ice him and take care of him every day or he couldn't even race."
First Sight Love's conqueror, Caspar Fownes-trained Strong Foundation (Zac Purton) has a similar story.
"When this horse came to me last season I was in the middle of fighting for the championship," said Fownes. "I thought he was a great one to get, who might win me two races by the end of the season, but straight away he had problems and I couldn't even run him.
"He still has the problems, so I'm happy to get a win out of him, but it has taken some patience," the trainer added.
