Hong Kong apprentice Jack Wong capped a fine effort in the 2015 Asian Young Guns Challenge at Seoul Racecourse, Korea today (Saturday, 29 August) with victory in the afternoon’s feature contest, the KRW150 million Singapore Turf Club Trophy.
That win, in what was the challenge’s final leg, was not enough to clinch victory in the four-race series. It did, however, propel the young rider, 21, to second-place at the conclusion of the prestigious competition, an important showcase for Asia’s best young riders.
“I’m delighted to be able to ride a winner here in Seoul and to finish second overall in the contest. I’m pretty satisfied with the results,” he said.
Wong started off well in the first leg, a contest over 1000m, as he guided his allocated ride, Muhandoma, to finish a creditable second, which gave the Hong Kong rider 15 points. Eleventh-place finishes in both the second and third legs dropped Wong off the pace, but the youngster rode a great race in the final leg on board the five-year-old horse Yeondu, who led all the way under a confident ride to win the 1400m weight for age open event.
“The way that horse ran was much like Domineer in Hong Kong. He took the lead easily and was able to finish strongly,” said the rider.
Wong, who made his Hong Kong debut in March, scored a total of 42 points from the four races to finish behind only Korean representative Kim Dong Soo, who won this year’s Challenge with 72 points. Macau representative Choi Yee Mo finished third with 31 points.
