Invincible Ibis second to none in Hong Kong Derby

HONG KONG – Crowning a phenomenal week for trainer Mark Newnham, Invincible Ibis vindicated Hugh Bowman’s faith with a record-breaking triumph in the HK$26 million (S$4.3 million) BMW Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) at Sha Tin on March 22.

Clocking 1min 59.43sec, the Hellbent gelding eclipsed Massive Sovereign’s mark of 1:59.85 set in 2024, in defeating Numbers (Derek Leung) – who tried to lead all the way – by 1¼ lengths with Stormy Grove (Harry Bentley) a luckless third, a further short head away.

Owned by the Ibis Syndicate, Invincible Ibis was given a perfect, ground-saving ride by Bowman to justify the Australian’s confidence in the bay gelding, who had finished sixth to Little Paradise in the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1,600m) and second to Stormy Grove in the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1,800m).

Celebrating his third Hong Kong Derby victory after triumphs with Werther in 2016 and Furore in 2019, Bowman was elated to have teamed with Newnham, who saddled five winners at Happy Valley on March 18.

“The dream was always there but you have to stick with the process and after the Mile, I was very doubtful whether he (Invincible Ibis) was going to be able to bring it together, but I took a lot of confidence out of the 1,800m. I thought he was one of five realistic winning chances,” said Bowman.

Settling midfield behind Numbers and Seraph Gabriel (Zac Purton) after jumping smoothly from barrier three, Invincible Ibis ($27) was given the run of the race by a patient Bowman, who bided his time until the field straightened before emerging to challenge Numbers.

“As we started to come round the home turn, I thought ‘I’m in business here, I really am’,” said the jockey.

“The run was economical, so when I brought him to the outside and let him down, it was no surprise that he went the way that he did and I’m very proud of him.

“It means a lot to win the race for a third time and being based here now, it makes it a bit more special for some reason or other.

“Thank you to Mark and the team for preparing this horse in such magnificent order.

“He really did peak this afternoon, and the distance was a query, no doubt about it, but he came through with flying colours.

“He just gave me the sweetest ride throughout the entire trip. We were aided by a good draw, of course, but the horse won with authority and I’m so proud to have won my third BMW Hong Kong Derby.”

Denied a short head by Cap Ferrat with My Wish in the last season’s Hong Kong Derby, Newnham was ecstatic after experiencing a wildly contrasting experience to 2025.

“The complete opposite to last year, that’s for sure. It was just a really smooth race to watch,” said the trainer.

“If I could have picked a position prior to the race, it would have been midfield, one-off in a consistent speed and Hugh got into that position early.

“At the corner, it was just going to be ‘Is he good enough?’ And probably a furlong (200m) into the straight, I was pretty confident he was going to be strong late.”

Newnham will now consider a FWD Champions Day start for the four-year-old in either the Group 1 FWD Champions Mile (1,600m) or the Group 1 FWD QEII Cup (2,000m) on April 26.

“We’ll be looking at that (FWD Champions Day) as long as his recovery’s good from today,” he said. “But I’m probably more inclined to run him in the Mile.

“Him taking on Romantic Warrior and a few of the internationals at 2,000m, I don’t think he’s seasoned enough for that yet, despite his win today and the time he’s run.

“He’s beating horses of his own age group, so I don’t think we need to throw him to the wolves just yet – horses can have a long career here, so there’s no need to be testing him too much beyond his limits.”

Frankie Lor, trainer of Numbers and Stormy Grove, said: “You can see the time was quick, so maybe if he (Numbers) had a better draw (than 13), he could have had an easier time earlier on and set his own pace.

“He still run a very good race, and he kept rolling the whole way. (Stormy Grove) did a very quick time to finish the race, 22.71sec, so he was only a little bit too far back. On another day, it could have been different.”

Little Paradise, who started as the favourite, over-raced and finished ninth.

The undercard was dominated by exciting rising talent with four three-year-old geldings winning four of the first six races, and they were Too Darn Hot’s Hot Delight ($7), Deep Field’s Mega Mastermind ($36), Biouvac’s Absolute Heart ($125) and Ardrossan gelding Gold Patch ($14).

Hot Delight maintained a perfect record with a third successive win to give Francis Lui his 500th victory on Sha Tin turf with success in the Class 3 Werther Handicap (1,200m) under Vincent Ho in 1:08.19. This was only marginally outside of Victor The Winner’s Class record mark of 1:08.11 set in 2022.

“He’s (Hot Delight) a nice horse, we know that. But he’s only three, so we want to excel as much as possible, but we also want to keep him for his four-year-old season, so it was a nice run,” said Ho.

Said Lui: “Good horse, he’s a very good horse and honest. Even in trackwork, he’s showed he’s improved.”

He also struck with Gold Patch under Purton in the Class 4 Sky Darci Handicap (1,200m).

Jamie Richards and Brenton Avdulla combined with Mega Mastermind to win the Class 4 Luger Handicap (1,600m) before Absolute Heart landed the Class 4 Ping Hai Star Handicap (1,200m) for Cody Mo and Leung. HKJC