Fresh from a four-timer at Sha Tin on Sunday, Umberto Rispoli swooped to claim the night’s trophy race at Happy Valley on Wednesday, the Class 3 Cricket Club Valley Stakes Handicap (1800m), atop 34/1 longshot Rickfield (129lb).

It was the Italian’s 11th success of the season and his first this term for Tony Millard from five rides for the South African handler.

“It’s nice to have my first winner for Tony Millard this season; I haven’t ridden a lot for him since I came back,” Rispoli said, referring to the leg break that sidelined him from November until late January.

 

Rickfield, a Dansili gelding out of the Aga Khan’s G2-winner Ashalanda – fourth in the G1 Hong Kong Cup (2000m) in 2009 – was landing his second Hong Kong win. The 75-rated five-year-old, a Listed winner at Chantilly pre-import, was successful at the course and distance off a mark of 68 back in February.

“They went really fast, the pace was crazy and it suited my horse perfectly,” Rispoli said after driving the grey to a length and a quarter verdict over the John Size-trained Easy Hedge (115lb), in a fast time of 1m 48.50s.

“He’s a horse that likes to sit behind them and relax,” he continued. “He has such a nice turn-of-foot and when I saw that the pace was like that I was just happy to sit there, balance him well, give him a nice breather on the middle of the corner, just wait for the straight line and then let him go and win the race.”