Coolmore recruit primed to take on international big guns for fairytale champion trainer in Hong Kong

The cynic who claimed nice guys finish last hadn’t reckoned on Francis Lui. The 66-year-old started at the bottom in racing and has battled his way to the very top, training two Derby winners and one of the greatest horses Hong Kong has seen.

It is part of local folklore how last July, Lui turned a three-win deficit in the trainers' championship into an unforgettable triumph, sending out winners of four of the last five races on the final day of the season.

He overhauled his one-time assistant Pierre Ng in the very last race to clinch his first title and was mobbed by fellow trainers offering congratulations. Nine months on, there is not a hint of that huge achievement having changed him.

Modest, understated and as softly spoken as ever, he is happy to put the case for his Hong Kong Derby winner Cap Ferrat in Sunday’s Group 1 FWD QEII Cup. However, he knows it will be a real challenge for the ex-Coolmore Australia four-year-old, taking on Goliath and Japanese contenders Prognosis, Tastiera and Liberty Island.

Still, it won't be as tough as his own first racing experience as a 16-year-old apprentice jockey, regularly riding against seniors Pat Eddery, Brian Taylor, occasionally Lester Piggott and Geoff Lane, the former golden boy of Australian racing.

It is amazing how he and other youngsters rode winners. They were not sent abroad for ‘blooding’ as they are today, they were just thrown in at the deep end. Lui rode 36 winners between 1975 and 1982 during his apprenticeship to George Sofronoff, and later served his time as assistant to the Russian trainer.

Lui has trained for almost three decades, yet his major successes have come late in his career, in the last six seasons. Golden Sixty was clearly the breakthrough horse. “He was so famous, a 'once in a lifetime' horse,” he recalls.

Hong Kong Gold Cup: winning connections pose for a photo after Golden Sixty's win

Golden Sixty, Francis Lui's 'once in a lifetime' horseCredit: Hong Kong Jockey Club

“But, why is it all happening now? I don’t know; maybe it’s experience,” he smiles. There’s more to it than that, we all know, and a major part of the success story is getting the horses. Sourcing Cap Ferrat from Coolmore was a key move.

Cap Ferrat arrived as a 13-start maiden from Australia, yet he had been runner-up to Tom Kitten in the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick and later third to Riff Rocket and Ceolwulf in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas. Those three are all top class, so he was in the right zone.

He also failed to win in his first three Hong Kong starts but his debut second was promising.

“He’s a good horse,” his trainer insists. “He ran several very good races in Australia and his Derby win here was also very good.

“The Derby is for four-year-olds, a restricted race. Now he will be racing against experienced overseas horses. I think the draw is very important. I’m happy Craig Williams rides him again. He knows the horse well.”

Cap Ferrat lands the BMW Hong Kong Derby in gritty fashionCredit: Hong Kong Jockey Club

Cap Ferrat has drawn eight in the QEII, with three horses on his outside: Goliath (nine), Tastiera (ten) and Liberty Island (11).

The Derby distance of 1m2f is the same as the QEII and there is a short run of 100 yards to the first turn. Williams was able to take a good forward position from stall two last time, and it was crucial to winning.

The Derby form was tested to some degree in a 1m1f Class 2 handicap last Sunday when Californiatotality (11th in the Derby) defeated Steps Ahead (ninth) into second, with Bundle Award (seventh) in fourth. Confusion rather than conclusion may be the verdict.

What makes the form more intriguing is that My Wish, who was a strong-finishing second in the Derby, is having a crack at Voyage Bubble and Mr Brightside in the Group 1 FWD Champions Mile, and on the evidence of a barrier trial last week, he is rippling fit and ready. The question is whether he is good enough.

On official ratings, Cap Ferrat has 8lb to find with the Japanese representatives and 16lb to find with Goliath but this Derby winner is worth his place in the field. No matter what the result, Lui will be unruffled. He has already achieved a historic win and anything else is a bonus.

Atzeni on the rise going into key meeting

Andrea Atzeni has struck a purple patch that has taken him to clear third place in the jockeys’ championship, behind Zac Purton and Hugh Bowman. He has ridden nine winners since the start of the month, which is excellent going for Hong Kong.

Atzeni has partnered 45 winners so far, only three shy of his total last season, and it leaves him six short of 100 winners in Hong Kong.

Andrea Atzeni is fast closing in on 100 winners in Hong KongCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

“When you get the horses, the confidence is high and you ride better," he says. "I don’t think I’ve improved as a jockey but every meeting I seem to have found one or two horses who can win. It’s nice to keep the ball rolling.”

Atzeni rides in two of Sunday's feature races. He will partner Beauty Waves, who has drawn stall three in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize. “He ran okay on dirt at the weekend but he needs to up his game against Ka Ying Rising and the Japanese runners. It’s a chance for some prize-money,” he points out.

He then rides Beauty Eternal, who jumps from gate five in his attempt at back-to-back wins in the Champions Mile, which he won on yielding ground 12 months ago. “On his day he's a very good horse but he just hasn’t shown the same as he has in previous years.”

Atzeni was delighted to be booked for the David Hayes-trained Soleil Fighter in a Class 2 7f handicap on Sunday’s undercard, but a little deflated when the gelding drew widest of the ten runners. “He won last time at Happy Valley and David has kept him fresh for this,” he reports.

On his season so far, Atzeni reflects: “The numbers are coming. I’m just lacking that good horse. I’m looking for my Ka Ying Rising . . . but then again, everybody is.”

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