Badel is back
Alexis Badel arrived back in town before last weekend’s Sha Tin meeting and he bagged the first win of his winter contract aboard Unicornbaby in the Class 4 Panasonic 4K TV Handicap (1400m) at Sha Tin yesterday afternoon (Saturday, 9 November). The Frenchman overcame gate 13 and delivered the Richard Gibson-trained 26/1 shot for a neck victory.
“Badel gave the horse a fantastic ride,” Gibson said. “It’s great to have Badel back in Hong Kong because Hong Kong is a better place with him.”
Reeve’s Muntjac claimed a first win at his eighth outing to give trainer Dennis Yip his third win of the campaign. Umberto Rispoli drove the four-year-old to repel rivals by half a length in the Class 5 Panasonic Steam Oven Handicap (1800m).
Enfolding had finished second in five of his most recent seven starts but the Caspar Fownes-trained five-year-old nailed his first win at the 17th ask. Zac Purton produced the gelding with well-timed momentum to take the Class 4 Panasonic Double Mineral Nanoe Hair Dryer Handicap (1650m).
Purton made it two when Blastoise, from the in-form David Ferraris yard, took the Class 4 Panasonic R32 Refrigerant Air-Conditioner Handicap (1600m). And the champion jockey sealed a treble when Splendour And Gold took the Class 3 Panasonic IH Cooker Handicap (2000m) to give the Yip stable a double.
The Benno Yung-trained Super Junior dashed to a third career win down the 1000m straight. Derek Leung has been in the plate for each of the six-year-old’s victories, going back to February 2017, and today urged him to a neck score in the Class 3 Panasonic Justfit Thermo Ventilator Handicap (1000m).
Leung bagged a double when the Chris So-trained Lakeshore Eagle took the finale, the Class 3 Panasonic Japan System Kitchen Handicap (1400m).