Small but select Sha Tin squad for Newnham as HK premiership race continues

Mark Newnham will aim to maintain his trainers’ title challenge when he sends a lean squad of six runners to Sha Tin’s ‘Summer Series’ fixture on Saturday.

The championship leaders have been finding it increasingly difficult to live with the momentum of Caspar Fownes’ (62 wins) bid for a fifth trainers’ championship. He now sits four wins clear of Newnham’s tally of 58, with Danny Shum in third on 57.

While that trio has broken clear of the pack – Francis Lui is fourth with 51 wins and David Hayes has 50 – Fownes’ relentless progress has seen him pick up winners at each of the past seven meetings, and he’s setting a pace even his closest rivals are struggling to match.

Newnham’s view on the title race last month was that he would “probably run out of bullets before the end of the season”, and that outlook appears to be well-founded; he has presented fewer runners than Fownes and Shum at each meeting in June, and will do so again on Saturday.

Nevertheless, the Australian saddles two strong chances in Saturday’s sporting highlight, the Class 2 Peacock Handicap (1600m).

Max Que (124lb), who will be ridden by Alexis Badel and jumps from barrier four, has enjoyed a remarkable season that has seen his rating (86) rise by 32 points since his opening run of the campaign.

“He’s probably going to find the handicap a bit tough now. But he is a good, consistent horse. He’s been a really good horse for the stable all year. It’s just a matter of whether he’s still got one more good run in him,” Newnham said.

Newnham also prepares Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) runner-up Infinite Resolve (123lb) in the same race. He will be piloted by the in-form Jerry Chau from gate seven.