David Eustace saddles his first BMW Hong Kong Derby runners as Dazzling Fit, who will be ridden by Luke Ferraris, and Seraph Gabriel bid to make their mark at Sha Tin (Picture: HKJC)
Luke Ferraris rides for David Eustace in Sunday’s Hong Kong Derby and the partnership warmed up by winning the first race at Happy Valley today (Wednesday), albeit in a dead-heat with another runner.
Ferraris was on the Eustace-trained Glorious Ryder in the first race, a Class 5 event over 1650m.
The NZ-bred gelding started as an unheralded 35/1 shot, not surprisingly considering his first eight starts on the island had yielded one third, two eighth place finishes and five twelfth place finishes.
This was the first time Ferraris was up and from draw six he positioned him one wide with cover in midfield.
Glorious Ryder stayed on well in the straight and then made a telling late surge to get up for the dead-heat with the Mark Newnham-trained second favourite Soaring Bronco.
However, Ferraris picked up a one meeting suspension for the ride as explained in this stipendiary steward report:
L Ferraris (GLORIOUS RYDER) pleaded guilty to a charge of careless riding [Rule 100(1)] in that over the concluding stages he permitted his mount to shift in when not clear of DRAGON SUNRISE, resulting in DRAGON SUNRISE being taken in onto PERFECTO MOMENTS, resulting in DRAGON SUNRISE and PERFECTO MOMENTS being crowded for room and also resulting in PERFECTO MOMENTS being taken in across the running of TELECOM POWER which was checked. L Ferraris was suspended from riding in races for one Hong Kong raceday to be conducted on Wednesday, 8 April 2026 at Happy Valley. In assessing penalty, the Stewards determined the carelessness grade 2 and the consequences grade 2 and also considered his excellent race riding record. Raced wide and without cover for the majority of the event.
Click here for a replay of the race
Click here for a report on the whole meeting
David Eustace has two runners in the Hong Kong Derby on Sunday, including Ferraris’ mount Dazzling Fit.
