Lor’s patience rewarded as Horsepower and Mr Cool snap losing runs at Sha Tin

Patience was indeed a virtue for trainer Frankie Lor Fu-chuen after quirky pair Horsepower and Mr Cool snapped huge 529 and 546-day losing streaks respectively at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Horsepower had last tasted success way back in April last year, but it was not for a lack of trying. In 12 runs since that win, he had finished second on three occasions, and put the writing on the wall with a half-length fourth at Happy Valley on reappearance.

The Harry Angel galloper was sent off an unconsidered $18.25 chance for Sunday’s Class Three Shing Mun Handicap (1,000m) but belied the market with a comfortable length success.

Settled towards the back of the pack, Andrea Atzeni began to make his move 400m from home and quickly scythed his way through the field, charging between horses and picking up the leads in short time.

It was the performance of a horse who may still have more to offer up in grade, but Lor is going to have to be patient again with a dearth of chances for 1,000m Class Two sprints across both venues.

“This horse always carries a big weight. Last season, the jockey always told me when he asks him to sprint, he slows down in the last 50m,” Lor said.

“This season, he looks a bit different – a bit quieter. Last season, in the mornings, he was very hard to slow down. This season he’s much more relaxed and I think he can improve a little bit more.

“He’s always carried big weights, 135lb, 130lb. He will go up to Class Two now and if I can find a 1,000m race, he should be better. I don’t think which track matters to him, I just need to see the programme because there are not many Class Two races.”

Lor kicked off his double thanks to Mr Cool, who snapped a losing run also spanning back to April 2025, when he ran riot in the Class Four Yan Chai Trophy (1,400m).

Well backed from $7.7 into $3.55, the son of Maurice always travelled ominously well ahead of midfield and came into the straight full of run under Karis Teetan.

Briefly held up in the straight, Teetan angled him into the clear and he was soon doing two strides to his rivals’ one, blasting clear to win by two lengths.

“Someone pointed out to me that it was two difficult to win horses that I won with today. They are always very satisfying,” Lor said.

Teetan enjoyed a strong day of his own, taking home a double and the feature race when Definitive landed the Class Two Muk Min Ha Handicap (1,650m) on dirt.

The David Eustace-trained galloper was always well positioned in a clear second behind long-time leader Sing Dragon and turning in, he quickly waved goodbye to that rival and rocketed away.

He was eased down to win by two and a quarter lengths and it was a performance that left Teetan beaming.

“He went down to the gates feeling good and when he came out so well, I thought ‘that’s halfway home already’. He was able to control the race and he picked it up nicely. He had no weight on his back and he was in the perfect spot,” Teetan said.

“He’s a horse who I did a lot of work with earlier in his career. I always knew he had ability, and sometimes it’s just about him bringing his ‘A game’ to the races, too. I must say well done to David and his team – they had the horse spot on.”

It could have been an even better day for Teetan, however, with the Mauritian jockey and Firefoot losing the Class Four Sha Tsui Handicap (1,650m) on dirt on objection to the Pierre Ng Pang chi-trained Supreme Agility.

Things got extremely tight in the latter stages, with Firefoot taking the lead 300m from home, closely pursued down the outside by Supreme Agility and Happy Universe.

Just as he was about to be joined, Firefoot edged left into the path of Supreme Agility, with the latter’s jockey James Orman having to stop riding briefly between that rival and Happy Universe.

The margin was just a nose on the line, with the stewards determining that Supreme Agility would have won without the interference.

There was another sting in the tail for Teetan, who was hit with a one-day suspension for his ride on Thriving Brothers in the Class Three Shek Wai Kok Handicap (1,650m) on dirt, which was won by the David Hayes-trained All Round Winner.

Meanwhile, Michael Chang Chun-wai continued a strong start to his season, with Lady’s Love’s promising win in the first section of the Class Four Sham Tseng Handicap (1,400m) ringing up a double for the trainer.

The one-time Australian winner pre-import had shown promise in seven local starts, but he took another giant step forward from his seasonal reappearance with a brilliant performance under champion jockey Zac Purton.

Drawn on the inside, Purton used that expertly to his advantage, making steady ground throughout the back straight and after hugging the rail on the turn, the inside run opened up beautifully early in the home straight.

Lady’s Love shot to the front when the gap appeared and despite wandering in the closing stages, he had more than enough to fend off a fast-finishing Quick Contribution by a neck.

It was a performance that left Chang very hopeful he can kick on to further victories in the future.

“Today has been lucky on my side, as both my horses drew barrier one. This horse, Zac came back and said he does a few things wrong – he doesn’t fully concentrate. I think he still has a couple of lengths left to improve further,” Chang said.

“Both my horses today have a little bit of an advantage in the handicap. I’m very happy with my start to the season. Even when they aren’t winning, my horses are still running well.”

Chang kicked off his double with Team Happy, who was a well-backed winner of the Class Five Lo Wai Handicap (1,400m) for jockey Matthew Poon Ming-fai.