Rising Force landed one of the plunges of the season so far when he defied stall 14 to win the Class Three Cha Kwo Ling Handicap (1,200m) on his seasonal reappearance at Sha Tin on Thursday.

Sensationally backed from $16 into $3.35 favourite, the Ricky Yiu Poon-fai-trained galloper made light work of the widest barrier when Richard Kingscote managed to land on the leader's shoulder.

Breezing past Matters Most as he pleased at the 400m pole, the race was settled in a matter of strides as Rising Force bolted clear of his rivals and won with far greater dominance than the one-and-a-half length margin suggests.

Having raced solely on the dirt last season, where he won one of his three starts, this was a turf debut that will go into many a notebook and Yiu thinks there is plenty more to come from his lightly raced four-year-old.

“He had been running well on the dirt, so I was disappointed with the draw in stall 14, but I knew the horse drawn in 13 [Matters Most] was a fast one too, so we just followed him into the first bend and it worked out well,” said Yiu.

“His last two trials were quite promising and with the light weight that he had today, I believed he would run well despite the wide draw.

“He’s only just turned four and it was his first run of the season, so I think we have a lot of improvement in him. He’s fast and versatile too.”

Smart Golf dazzles

Frankie Lor Fu-chuen and Harry Bentley are bullish about Smart Golf’s future after the four-year-old scored a dominant all-the-way success on his second start on Thursday.

In one of the most impressive performances on New Year’s Day, Smart Golf rolled forward from gate 11 to lead and was never headed in the first section of the Class Four Hillwood Handicap (1,200m).

The two-length triumph backed up the son of Needs Further’s impressive trial form and was a sign of improvement from his first-up fifth behind Packing Glory up the straight.

“I asked Harry even with barrier 11, you need to go forward and if you can lead by yourself then do it – he was more relaxed today.” Lor said after Smart Golf comfortably accounted for Speedy Smartie.

“I hope the horse still has more improvement after this race. I think he will go up to Class Three – he won by two or three lengths so I think there is a lot more to come.”

Bentley was elated to snap his winless streak of 43 rides in owner Jackie Wong See-sum’s silks, which are also sported by Hong Lok Golf, a seven-time winner for Bentley and trainer Chris So Wai-yin.

“He’s been trialling extremely well and I got on him for one trial and he led and gave me a really good feel, so I was coming into this race with a level of confidence,” Bentley said.

“He was able to overcome a wide draw with a lot of natural speed, travelled along great and when I asked the question, he duly delivered.

“So, there should be more to come from him. He’s a nice type who should climb the ranks.”

Chung and Cruz’s luck swings

Angus Chung Yik-lai and Tony Cruz have endured a frustrating couple of months but they got the new year off to the perfect start when snaring the first winner of 2026 with Iron Legion.

The Lucky Start raceday kicked off with the Class Five Tsung Pak Long Handicap (1,600m) and after training just one winner from 77 runners since Beauty Bolt’s November win, Iron Legion’s victory was a much-needed boon for Cruz.

It was also a tonic for jockey Chung, who had recently been slapped with a four-meeting ban which has been reduced to three on appeal. He had been struggling for winners himself, but this ride was a timely reminder of just what he is capable of.

Drawn wide in stall ten, the 29-year-old managed to edge himself over to the fence and was in the box seat until spinning out in the straight and finding himself in a protracted duel with a wall of horses in the final 200m.

Although it looked unlikely, Iron Legion stuck his neck out best of all to fend off his rivals by a short head from the fast-finishing Harry’s Hero, something that even surprised Chung.

“I did not expect to get on the fence from barrier 10, I thought to just keep rolling from the draw and to see where I got,” said Chung. “The horse can be naughty in the barrier, he missed the break a few times, so when I got a good position I was always hoping for a good result.

“When Panda Legend went past me, I didn’t expect to get back past him again because the horse is quite weak I thought, but actually he has a strong mind and showed it to go past him – it was a good finish.

“Me and Tony have struggled a little bit, it’s been really difficult to find the winners for the last two months but we’re both really happy to get the first winner of the year.”