It was another "Joao Show" at Happy Valley on Wednesday night as Joao Moreira produced a sub-par effort and only won three races but French riders Gregory Benoist and Vincent Cheminaud continued to make a positive impression.
Moreira took longer than usual to start the ball rolling but won the third on Racing Mate, the fourth on Vara Pearl and rounded things out by taking the last on Divine Boy.
Benoist won the opening race for Caspar Fownes on Southchina Command at surprising odds, then Cheminaud did the honours for John Size's 900th career winner in Hong Kong on Ronald Arculli-owned Forever Red.
"Vincent followed the instructions to the letter and got the horse out quickly to a prominent position and he looks to have adapted OK to Hong Kong," said Size.
"This horse had fibresand form in England but he's been racing well in Class Three here at Happy Valley so I was happy to keep him here and the class drop tonight made the difference."
Fownes said he had been impressed by both Benoist and Cheminaud and said it was a shame both will be returning to their contracts in Europe.
"I'm sure they'd both make a great success of it here in Hong Kong if they decided to stay," Fownes said.
"They've both adjusted quite quickly to the quicker racing here and when Zac Purton was suspended, I had no problems putting Benoist on Southchina Command.
"The horse has been so honest and he got the pace on tonight which suits him better. Can you believe that's three wins for the season?
And he might even win a fourth the way he's going - he should stay in Class Five grade after winning this one by a length."
Also continuing his good form was Alex Lai Hoi-wing, taking his fifth race for the past month when Ultimate Glory overcame his wide gate to win the seventh over 1,650m.
"This horse never seems to draw anywhere else but wide," said trainer Manfred Man Ka-leung. "But Alex got him over behind the leader tonight and then the leader rolled off to give him the run through in the straight. He was due for some luck and he got it."
Tsui was the only trainer to send out a winner drawn lower than gate seven on the C track when long-term loser Kitaya (Howard Cheng Yue-tin) finally had his night in the winner's stall, and the trainer added Timely Arrived (Keith Yeung Ming-lun) and later combined with Moreira in the final event to make it three with Divine Boy, who also drew one.
"Timely Arrived has always had good speed but he has become a bit stronger now," he said after four-year-old made it two wins from his last three starts. "Kitaya, well he has taken some time to win but he has been very consistent.
"He had the inside draw and made good use of it this time."
Divine Boy took nearly all of the 1,200m in the final race to grab Romantic Cash and give Moreira his three-timer - after the Brazilian had won four and five races at the previous two meetings. But it almost looked a case of hold the presses at the 150m.
Glyn Schofield, having his first rides in Hong Kong since December 2006 after answering an SOS call from the Jockey Club, momentarily looked like springing a minor upset with Berlini but eventually had to settle for third.
