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Mark Newnham is rolling through his second season in Hong Kong with flying colours and on Wednesday night (23 October) the trainer saddles five runners at Sha Tin’s eight-race all-dirt programme.
Following a 31-win debut campaign, Newnham has made an immediate impression this term with 11 wins from 59 starters across the initial 13 fixtures of 2024/25 – a tally bettered by only David Hayes (14) and Pierre Ng (12), while Caspar Fownes also has 11 wins.
The 56-year-old Newnham collected a double on Sunday (20 October) at Sha Tin, while his statistics on the dirt in 2023/24 saw him strike at 17% with seven wins from 41 starters.
Steely grey Talents Ambition (130lb) – much like Newnham – has returned in fine order this campaign and represents the handler in the HK$2.05 million Class 3 Tsim Mei Fung Handicap (1650m), drawn in gate three with jockey Harry Bentley engaged.
"It looks like an ideal race for him. I've been holding him back and waiting for this race. I gave him a trial in between and I gave him a gallop on Sunday (20 October) – he felt great," Newnham said.
The Into Mischief gelding registered his first Hong Kong win over tomorrow night's course and distance last season. He resumed on 15 September, finishing third over 1200m on dirt, before crossing the line first in a recent trial over the same trip in 1m 11.02s on 8 October.
"I think he's a decent horse regardless of the surface but his two runs on the dirt have been fantastic and the last time he got to a mile he won easily, so it looks like a nice race for him," Newnham said.
Talents Ambition is eligible for the three-race Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which commences with the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 31 January, 2025.
"We'll keep him on the dirt for now. If we can get his rating up, well, he's still eligible for the Four-Year-Old Classic Series and I'm sure he'll run past a mile – he's so relaxed in his work," Newnham said.
Talents Ambition faces Apache Pass (135lb), Turin Mascot (135lb), Supreme Agility (134lb), Perfect Team (130lb), Toy Soltero (125lb), Fighting Machine (124lb), Young Brilliant (124lb), Good Luck Babe (123lb), Massive Action (122lb), Satirical Fan (120lb) and Super Love Dragon (120lb) at Sha Tin.
"We've seen in his (Talents Ambition) last three runs he's strengthened. He only just got beaten on the turf over a mile, then he won on the dirt and then his first-up run was terrific over an unsuitable distance," Newnham said.
The Australian also fields Super Charizzard, Always Fluke, So Treasure and One For All (116lb), who races third-up in the HK$2.05 million Class 3 Wa Mei Shan Handicap (1200m).
The six-year-old One For All breaks from barrier four under Alexis Badel in the Sha Tin finale – his first start on the big track's alternate surface.
"He's always trialled really well on the dirt. I just thought at Class 3 level on the turf, they're probably a little bit good for him at the moment, so it's a good opportunity to test him still in that grade with a nice light weight when all of his trials on there have been good," Newnham said.
Always Fluke contests the night's feature – the HK$1.17 million Class 4 JCI Hong Kong Senate Cup Handicap (1200m) with Luke Ferraris from stall six.
Wednesday night's (23 October) eight-race all-dirt fixture at Sha Tin commences at 7.15pm with the Class 5 Hebe Hill Handicap (1800m).