VETERAN GALLOPER C P BRAVE CONTINUES BREAKOUT SEASON FOR RICKY YIU WITH CLASS TWO TRIUMPH AT SHA TIN

Seven-year-old gelding leads home a quinella for veteran handler with strong win under Alexis Badel

Evergreen galloper C P Brave continued his best Hong Kong season and spearheaded a quinella for Ricky Yiu Poon-fai with a dominant display in the Class Two Advancing Culture & Sports Handicap (1,800m) at Sha Tin on Saturday.

The seven-year-old sealed doubles for both his handler and jockey Alexis Badel when he finished powerfully from midfield to beat stablemate, Natural Storm, by one-and-a-half lengths.

A two-time winner in Britain in 2020, C P Brave recorded only one win from his first three seasons for Tony Millard but has thrived for Yiu with three victories this term.

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He added Saturday's triumph to his back-to-back wins - also over 1,800m at Sha Tin - in December and January.

Yiu, who also struck with Multisuper in the Class Four Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Trophy (1,000m), plans to test C P Brave in upcoming features, with the Group Three Queen Mother Memorial Cup (2,400m) on May 5 a potential target.

"He's been consistent throughout this season," Yiu said.

"He's a lovely horse and 1,800 is his best trip - anything between 1,800 and 2,000. We will try one or two of these [upcoming] feature races. We'll see if he can move up to another level. With a different rating, it will be difficult to find another similar distance for him, so we'll take on the big boys."

Badel timed his run to perfection on C P Brave, extricating him off the fence on the home turn to launch his winning run down the centre of the track.

"C P Brave is a very pleasant ride, his form over the course and distance is impeccable and I was very keen to ride him because I believed he would be a great chance in this race," Badel said.

"Eventually the [rain-affected] ground helped him a little bit but he is a quality horse."

Flaming Rabbit held on for third behind C P Brave while the $3 favourite, Chill Chibi, made late ground to run a solid fourth.

Yiu was over the moon when Multisuper broke through for his first win at start 14. After sitting just off a hot speed set by Super Commander, Multisuper surged to the front at the 200m and held off Red Elegance to win by three-quarters of a length.

"He's been knocking on the door for a long time," Yiu said of the Vancouver gelding, who had placed six times before his breakthrough success.

"He has been unlucky on a couple occasions, but he did his job. The jockey rode him before and knows him well and that was a good performance."

C P Brave capped a race-to-race double for Badel after he booted home David Hall's Solid Impact in the Class Three Nurturing Talent Handicap (1,200m).

In a minor upset, Solid Impact ($12) stormed home to narrowly beat Lady's Choice and Ima Single Man, while the raging $1.4 favourite Call Me Glorious could only manage fourth after being trapped three-wide without cover on the speed.

"He's a brilliant horse, he's got a great heart and he tries very hard," Badel said of Solid Impact, who he also won on at Sha Tin on March 10.

"From the draw (barrier 10) and with the weight (126 pounds), it was difficult to imagine such a good performance, but it was a pretty smooth race and it was a great effort."