Wings Of War stays on for second and a historic win should not be far away (Pictures: HKJC)
Mary Slack went close to having her first win in Hong Kong tonight (Wednesday) when her Douglas Whyte-trained Irish-bred imported five-year-old gelding by Dark Angel, Wings Of War, ran a 1,75 length second in a class 3 handicap over 1200m under Harry Bentley.
Hong Kong racing used to be a closed book with only residents allowed to own, but it changed in late 2022 when Mary Slack became one of the first two persons to be allowed to own horses in Hong Kong as non-residents.
This development came after the HKJC authorized the ownership and racing of two thoroughbreds under the names of Chinese Billionaire and Yulong Supremo, Zhang Yuesheng, as well as Slack.
Tony Millard initially trained imported Wings of War, who is now trained by Douglas Whyte.
The gelding arrived as a twice winner, including having won a Gr 2 over six furlongs at Newbury as a two-year-old when trained by Clive Cox for owner Isa Salman Al Khalifa.
Wings Of War was bought in training by Slack and exported from the UK to Hong Kong.
However, despite finishing second three times and third three times, he is yet to record what would be a historic win on the racing mad island.
Unfortunately, Zhang Yuesheng has beaten Slack to the accolade of being the first non-resident owner to win a race in Hong Kong.
His charge, an Irish-bred four-year-old gelding by Showcasing called Show Respect, was initially trained by Whyte.
He switched to Australian Mark Newnham’s yard in January this year and finally got off the mark in Hong Kong on 13 march when winning a class 4 event over 1650m.
He followed up in his next start in a class 3.
However, Wings Of War has dropped from a 78 down to a 68 after 14 starts on the island and it shouldn’t be long before those famous black with a scarlet cap colours are carried to that elusive victory.
