Pierre Ng Pang-chi’s rise to the top of the city’s training ranks continues apace after he picked up the first Group win of his career at Sha Tin on Monday.

Well clear at the head of the trainers’ championship in just his second season, Ng was thrilled with the victory of Taj Dragon in the Group Three Chinese Club Challenge Cup (1,400m) as he provided the quality to go alongside his huge quantity of winners this term.

“It’s a dream come true,” Ng said. “I think the whole stable was thinking we could only get prize money against some of these big horses, so the fact we won will mean we’re happier at the dinner tomorrow night. It’s a stable dinner to celebrate our last treble [on December 17].”

With Taj Dragon competing 20 pounds out of the handicap, Ng was running his charge in the hope, more than the expectation, of a win, but the five-year-old showed a sparkling turn of foot against some of the city’s big names, including California Spangle, to win by an easy two lengths.

“I didn’t think he could beat the good ones,” Ng said. “Before Andrea [Atzeni] mounted up we were just hopeful he could get top three, but today he really impressed a lot of people.”

Taj Dragon’s third win of the season, and his first at Group level, means some lofty targets could be on the horizon, with the Group One Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) on March 10 not out of the question.

“It’s a very big step if we do run him in a Group One,” Ng said. “We will have to see, but he hasn’t let us down from day one. We will see how many ratings points he gets put up. Obviously, he’s not a big horse to carry a heavy weight, so we will have to see tomorrow.”

It was not only Ng notching a milestone, with Atzeni tasting his first Group success in Hong Kong as he continues to make an impact in his first full season in the city.

“I actually ended up putting a pound over – 116 – which was worth doing,” Atzeni said.

“What a horse. He’s a young, up-and-coming horse. I thought he would run well but I just wasn’t sure if he could beat the big guns at the moment.

“It’s nice to get a nice winner on the first day of the year and things are going great. Pierre has been a great supporter since I’ve been here, so it’s nice to do it for him.”

Taj Dragon’s success takes Ng to 40 winners, just one off last season’s tally, and he’s confident there could be more big victories to come before the campaign draws to a close.

Double extends phenomenal run and moves Ng 16 clear at top of tree at Christmas

“The horses have performed very well, which has surprised me, but in fact the workload and training they have been doing, the whole stable predicted them to perform well and we’re getting the results,” Ng said.

“This season, the second season, we’ve got a lot better horses and hopefully we’re just gradually preparing them to be higher-class horses. I’ve got a feeling we have more to come.”

Healthy Happy finished two lengths behind Taj Dragon – his second Chinese Club Challenge Cup second in a row after he won the race in 2022 – while Beauty Joy was third and favourite California Spangle faded badly to finish a disappointing seventh.