Invincible Ibis wins Hong Kong Derby for Mark Newnham and Hugh Bowman

Zigal has been involved in racing in Hong Kong since the 1990s but Invincible Ibis was his first runner in the Derby and he spoke before the race of 'a dream come true'.

Those dreams were realised in scintillating fashion as Invincible Ibis, who had been settled in midfield by Bowman, showed a fine turn of foot to pick up the runaway front-runner Numbers.

Stormy Grove finished third under Harry Bentley with Dylan Browne McMonagle coming home in fourth aboard Patch Of Cosmo.

Trainer Mark Newnham missed out on the Derby last year when My Wish was beaten a short-head having had to race in the rear after breaking from stall 14 told the South China Morning Post of his differing emotions.

“[I’m feeling] the complete opposite to last year, that’s for sure,” he said.

"Hopefully they play [the replay] as many times as they played last year’s – for the next 12 months, I’ll be quite happy to watch this one.

“It was just a really smooth race to watch. If I could have picked a position prior to the race, it would have been midfield one off in a consistent speed and Hugh got into that position early. At the corner it was just going to be is he good enough? And probably a furlong into the straight, I was pretty confident he was going to be strong late.

"[Stepping up to 2,000m for the first time] is always a little query, but he’s a horse that uses his energy well, breathes well and relaxes, so he’s always going to be strong late and against your own age group, you don’t have to be the superior stayer.”

Bowman was delighted to add to his previous Derby victories aboard Werther (2016) and Furore (2019), saying: "The dream was always there but you have to stick with the process and after the Classic Mile, I was very doubtful whether he was going to be able to bring it together, but I took a lot of confidence out of the 1,800m.

“I thought he was one of five realistic winning chances. As we started to come round the home turn, I thought ‘I’m in business here, I really am,’ but he’s not a horse who lets down like he did today. The run was economical, so when I brought him to the outside and let him down, it was no surprise that he went the way that he did and I’m very proud of him.

"It means a lot to win the race for a third time and being based here now and it makes it a bit more special for some reason or other."

Reporting from the course for Racing TV, presenter Nick Luck said: "We've seen a record breaking performance from Invincible Ibis who won for Mark Newnham who is in the form of his life, he had a five-timer at Happy Valley on Wednesday evening which is nigh on impossible and he's just won his first Hong Kong Derby with a horse who has run the fastest Derby ever.

"He was one of the leading contenders going into the race, got a lovely draw in stall 3, got the perfect stalking trip under Hugh Bowman for whom this was a third Hong Kong Derby.

"We knew that Numbers was going to go out and try and make every post a winning one. He ran really well, particularly because he was pestered by the runner-up's owner-mate Seraph Gabriel all the way under Zac Purton and Numbers ended up fading. The way the race peeled apart allowed Invincible Ibis the perfect trip.

"Harry Bentley rode Stormy Grove who, I thought, ran an excellent race. He just found himself a little too far back and the horse didn't pick up instantly when he let him down but he was finishing really well and he looks a pretty promising horse.

"It was a really important victory for the 25 strong Ibis Syndicate. A lot of these are veterans of Hong Kong and have been really closely associated with the running of the Hong Kong Jockey Club so it was a big result all round."

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