The precocious Killer Bee made light work of his rivals in a brilliant debut at Sha Tin on Saturday and trainer Caspar Fownes hopes it can shine a brighter spotlight on jockey Blake Shinn.

The was a big spruik around the three-year-old in the build-up to the Class Four Peng Chau Handicap (1,000m) and punters didn’t miss out – crunching him into $2.55 when the gates opened.

But there wasn’t a moment of worry for those who jumped on as Shinn kept Killer Bee out of trouble before cruising away to a pretty soft win, two and a quarter lengths in front of Jade Phoenix with Take What You Need back in third.

It was the second time the Fownes-Shinn combination tasted success this week after Tangmere saluted at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

Despite coming to Hong Kong with a glittering resume highlighted by victories in some of Australia’s biggest races – including the Melbourne Cup and Golden Slipper – Shinn has found it hard to establish himself among the city’s elite in his season and a half here.

Even though the 33-year-old won the Classic Mile aboard Excellent Proposal in January – and is one of the favourites for next week’s BMW Hong Kong Derby – Shinn only had two rides on Saturday, which is something Fownes hopes can change.

Blake Shinn looks for Excellent Proposal to ‘propel’ him to new heights in Classic Cup

“He’s a great jockey and like anything in Hong Kong, you need a little bit of support and if you get the right horses, you can show your talent. When you’re riding horses that are 50-1, 60-1, it’s very hard to show any ability,” Fownes said.

“I picked Blake to ride the horse because he can be a little bit aggressive. He wants to be a big, strong boy and Blake’s been very good, spending a lot of time with the horse and getting him to relax a bit and learn a little bit more.

“So I’m very happy for Blake to get the win, it’s been good to see him get a couple of winners for me this week and hopefully he can get more support because he’s a good jockey.”

Shinn, who now has 13 winners for the term, is grateful to have Fownes in his corner and was even happier to deliver when it mattered.

“Caspar, from the time I got here, he’s tried to find me a decent horse and when he put me on this guy at the trials, he said ‘he’s nice a horse’ and everything has come together,” the jockey said. “We’ve had a great result today.”

The manner of Killer Bee’s win suggests he should progress up the ratings pretty quickly as he continues to develop.

“The horse did a great job, he trialled nicely but he did a few things wrong in the trials,” Shinn said. “He was the consummate professional out there today. First time at the races, he just did it nicely and won well.”

Fownes thinks Killer Bee’s effort is a great launching pad to work from, knowing he will stretch out over further with time.

“It’s always nice to win first-up, it’s very tough in Hong Kong. Hopefully he has a good future,” he said. “He’s a Savabeel and that was over 1,000m, so he’ll get up in distance for sure.

“It was good experience for him today, he took it all in nicely and he’s the type of horse that will keep on learning.”

It was the first of a treble for Fownes, who also tasted success with Guy Dragon and Serious Liaison.