Reigning champion trainer Caspar Fownes hit back with a double in the two main events at Sha Tin to put himself back within five wins of championship leader John Moore, but his post-race focus was less on whether his title defence was still alive and more about the future of dirt star Gun Pit.
I'm In Charge won the Class One sprint early in the day for Fownes, giving Matthew Chadwick his first winner for three months, then Zac Purton got the job done as Gun Pit made it six from six on the all-weather surface in the Reunification Cup over 1,650m and ran himself out of opportunities in the process.
"It's great to see him break the track record and win again and Gun Pit keeps showing everyone just how good he is on this surface," said Fownes. "I didn't want him too far back, Zac gave him a great ride and kept him out of trouble and he's done the job under the big weight again.
"Now it's a case of hoping the Jockey Club will recognise a horse like him, see that we have horses of real potential here on the dirt and start putting races on for them."
Fownes has designs on overseas travel with Gun Pit and Dubai and the United States have been mentioned but the four-year-old's owner, Cheng Chung-wah says his preference is for the Champions Cup, formerly the Japan Cup Dirt, in early December.
However, Fownes admitted that even preparing horses in Hong Kong to go to races of that calibre presents problems.
"If there are races to run in, I can build him into a Group One horse on this surface, with a rating high enough to go overseas," he said. "Now he goes up say seven points after today to a 112 rating and that's getting towards the travelling type of mark, but we need races to get his international rating high enough to know we can plan for races overseas and be able to get into them."
Fownes believes Gun Pit has wider options than the 1,650m over which he has been successful six times but that theory won't be tested in Hong Kong, either: "On this surface, I am sure he will run 2,000m."
I'm In Charge was one of the best-backed winners on the day, firming from 11.0 to 5.6, as he made the graduation to Class One and Chadwick was relieved to have ridden just his fourth winner for 2015 and his first since his finger injury in March that kept him sidelined for 10 weeks.
"I don't think I've ridden badly since I came back last month but I haven't had the right horses," Chadwick said. "I've been riding a lot of horses at long odds and placed on quite a few but it makes a difference when you are riding a winning chance."
That win made it two from two for Chadwick on the sprinter, who Fownes believes has flown under the radar to a large extent despite winning four of seven races this season and five of 13 overall.
"And he isn't done yet. Earlier in the season, he beat Teofilo Calva twice when that horse was looking quite progressive, and I think he can end up a 115-rater before he's caught by the handicapper," said Fownes, who also saddled up problem-plagued third placegetter Lucky Double Eight.
"His was a good run too today and if I can ever get a full season of training into him, he'll be a 115-rater but his feet have been a constant problem."
