Ethan Brown off the mark in Hong Kong with Happy Valley winner

Ethan Brown has made a flying start to his short-term Hong Kong stint when Shooting To Top for Cody Mo, providing the Australian jockey with a breakthrough success at only his third ride in the city at Happy Valley.

“I’m over the moon,” Brown said. “Everything worked out really well. I was presented with a good horse, we found a good position and he was too strong in the finish.”

“It was great, it’s obviously something we all strive to do – to get the opportunity is one thing, but to get a winner straight away is another thing.

“I just wanted to get a winner early and we’ve been able to tick that box. It gets the monkey off my back and I’m looking forward to what lies ahead. I feel relieved and just feel happy that I’m able to get a winner early – as it’s not easy to do.”

Fresh from a four-timer at Sha Tin on Sunday, 13-time champion trainer John Size continued his charge up the 2025/26 standings when Nebraskan scored under Andrea Atzeni.

A dual winner in Australia, Nebraskan notched his first victory in Hong Kong to provide Size with his 41st win of the campaign to trail Caspar Fownes (49), Mark Newnham (48), Danny Shum (47), David Hayes (45) and Francis Lui (42).