Invincible Ibis again marked himself as the horse to beat in next month’s Classic Mile after defying 135lb to beat fellow four-year-old Beauty Bolt in a brilliant finish to the Class Two Pak Shek Au Handicap (1,600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.

In a battle of the four-year-old series contenders, Mark Newnham’s classy galloper stamped his authority on the division in no uncertain terms, though he was made to work for it by a game Beauty Bolt.

Breaking from stall 14 did the latter no favours and although Zac Purton managed to find cover eventually, Invincible Ibis had a smooth run in comparison from barrier three.

Settled with three behind, Invincible Ibis barged his way out at the top of the straight but had plenty of ground to make up on Beauty Bolt, who got the jump after taking over at the 230m.

Hugh Bowman got Invincible Ibis charging home, however, and they gobbled up the ground to pinch victory in cheeky fashion, with the Australian riding him out hands and heels in the final 100m.

The Classic Mile now beckons for a horse who has won four in a row, but Newnham is wary of some smart rivals that are lurking for him on the other side of this run.

“He’s putting up quite a good record now and the nice part about the race was when it got a bit tough and he had to stretch the last part to beat Beauty Bolt, he did. So he’s got good ability, but he’s got good heart,” said Newnham.

“Jimmy Ting’s horse [Little Paradise] was quite impressive in Class Two and Pierre’s horse [Sagacious Life] last week in Class Two.

“But my horse, you can only keep winning and he’s put four together now, so he goes there in good form.”

The question of who will ride Invincible Ibis in the Classic Mile remains unanswered, but Newnham can sleep tight knowing his horse is in demand from the best Hong Kong has to offer.

“We can’t confirm now – we’ll know in the next 24 hours,” said Newnham when asked who would ride him on February 1.

“I would think that they’d both [Purton and Bowman] like to ride him, but we’ll find out.”

After a frustrating start to the card which saw him have a pair of runners finish second and a further two finish third, the day ended fantastically for Newnham who quickly doubled up when Lucky Sam Gor landed the closing Class Three Stanley Gap Handicap (1,400m).

Settled much closer to the speed than usual, Matthew Poon Ming-fai always oozed confidence on the four-year-old, who took over at the 300m pole and had just enough in the tank to fend off Stormy Grove by a nose.

“I left it up to Matthew really, I just said don’t push him out of the gate and don’t drag him back,” said Newnham. “I said if you get caught wide, you get caught wide; I didn’t think there would be a lot of pace and with a light weight, you’d rather be on the pace.

“The horse did a good job. It was good to see, because he started the season well and he’s always shown a lot of ability – he’s just taken a while to mature.

“I think he can run a mile. He was still strong at the end there after sitting three wide no cover, so that’s a good indication that he will.”

The brace for Newnham saw him retake the lead in the trainers’ championship from Caspar Fownes, with the Australian handler moving to 30 wins for the campaign.