HK SEPT 6: I'M IN CHARGE RULES IN THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S CUP; MOREIRA, WHYTE RIDE TREBLES

By Hong Kong Jockey Club | Sunday, September 6, 2015

I’m In Charge continued to ascend towards Pattern race company with an assertive victory in the HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup (1200m) this afternoon), the feature race on the opening day of the 2015/16 Hong Kong racing season.

Trainer Caspar Fownes is confident that the six-year-old can make the strides necessary to be a player in the season’s high-end sprint races after watching his charge quicken smartly down the Sha Tin stretch for a three quarter-length win under Matthew Chadwick.

“I said towards the end of last season, when he won, that he seems to be heading in the right direction,” said Fownes. “I think he’ll only improve now and we’ll go forward, keep progressing him and treat him like he’s a horse on the up. He could be another good sprinter for the stable and be competitive in the good sprint races down the road.”

I’m In Charge settled mid-pack on the fence after breaking from Gate 1 in the 11-runner Class 1 contest, while up ahead his Neil Callan-ridden stablemate Domineer set the fractions. There the winner stayed until Chadwick switched out for a run as the field turned for home.

Forced to shift five wide upon straightening, I’m In Charge found clear running with 350m remaining, quickened to lead inside the final furlong and held the late charge of the John Moore-trained runner-up Exciting Dream. High Five for the Tony Millard stable rattled home third, a further three quarters back.

I’m In Charge was rated 76 this time last year and went into today’s contest on a mark of 101, which made him equal bottom-weight with 113lb on his back. With a further ratings rise to come, Fownes believes the Magnus gelding, who now has six wins to his name from 14 Hong Kong starts, could have the scope to make the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) field come December.

“In Hong Kong it seems to be every year there’s a couple that get there and mix it with the top sprinters and he might be one of them,” said Fownes of I’m In Charge, who stopped the clock 0.14s inside standard at 1m 08.76s. “We’re at that stage now where there’s going to be half a dozen good sprinters here and I think he’s one that is heading in that direction to be a player in December.

“Right now he’s still in the handicap conditions, so he’s still got a ways to go to being a Group 1 horse but you can’t knock him. He’s doing it off light weights, it’s easier for him right now but if he can progress one or two lengths in the next three or four months he’s there.”

Fownes’s star sprinter Lucky Nine, a triple international G1 winner, was unable to mount a challenge in the stretch after traveling wide throughout under 10lb claimer Jack Wong. The eight-year-old holds an entry in the G1 Sprinters Stakes (1200m) in Japan on 4 October and Fownes was not ruling that option out or in.

“I’ll watch the replay, I’ll scope him and see how he is, but I still believe he has a lot to give, I really believe that,” he said. “It’s hard to go to Japan off that sort of effort but I’ll have to study the race before we make any decisions.”

Another horse on the up, Packing Pins, also maintained his advance towards the elite grades with an impressive victory in Race 7, the Class 2 Cotton Tree Handicap (1400m).

Ricky Yiu’s rising star gave Champion Jockey Joao Moreira his second win of the day following an earlier score on the Chris So-trained Team Fortune in Race 2. And in Race 10, the Class 3 Garden Road Handicap, Moreira sealed a treble on the aptly-named top-weight Up And Coming, who made it four wins from 10 starts.

Former champion Douglas Whyte also notched a treble thanks to Plain Blue Banner (Race 4), Gold Dragon (Race 6) and Travel Renyi (Race 9). Meanwhile, in the Class 2 Albert Handicap (1000m), Chad Schofield got his Hong Kong win count rolling as another up and comer, the Tony Millard-trained Strathmore, took the spoils.

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