He looked over the track for three long weeks during quarantine and Harry Bentley didn’t waste a minute when he was finally let loose at Happy Valley, punching home his maiden Hong Kong winner with his first ride at the vaunted city circuit on Wednesday night.

With a ride that left trainer Douglas Whyte effusive in his praise, Bentley hugged the rail aboard Vincy before pulling out at the top of the straight and working home to snare the Class Three Pottinger Handicap (2,200m) in the dying stages.

“I’ve been watching racing here for the last couple of weeks while I’ve been in my hotel looking over the track, so to come here and win with my first ride is fantastic,” said Bentley, who quarantined in the Crowne Plaza.

“My room looked over most of the track, there was a bit of the back straight and the top end I couldn’t see, but the two meetings that were here I watched from my room – I was switching between watching the TV and looking out my window.”

Harry Bentley to arrive at Sha Tin armed with information from the legendary Douglas Whyte

Bentley was delighted to salute for Whyte after the second-season trainer took him under his wing, walking the track with him at Sha Tin before his first meeting on the weekend and giving him plenty of advice about the notoriously tight-turning Valley track.

“Douglas has been fantastic, he’s given me good support. From someone like him it’s really quite something and I’m really appreciative of those opportunities,” Bentley said.

“Me coming here to Hong Kong, obviously I know nothing about the place, and he offered some insights which were really informative and helpful.”

It was Bentley’s third ride for Whyte after two at Sha Tin on Saturday and the South African was pleased to see his decision to throw his support behind the 28-year-old jockey vindicated.

“I knew what it was like being thrown in the deep end coming to Hong Kong with nothing behind me, no support and all expectations in front of me,” Whyte said.

“I’m very glad I could afford him the opportunity of getting his first win. He rode the track amazingly for someone that’s never ridden at Happy Valley.

“He’s a talented rider, he’s got a good, level head and he’s got a nice style so it’s going to stand him in good stead going forward.

“The track is about a rhythm, getting a horse to travel and keeping your rhythm going and he did that. If you break a rhythm at Happy Valley you lose two lengths.

“He was fortunate enough to get the horse out of the gates and get him in a handier position than he is normally in and he got him to travel, which is what I like about Harry. He’s got a great set of hands on him and if you can do that you are going to win a lot of races.”

Seven-year-old Vincy clearly appreciated Bentley’s style, notching just his second Hong Kong victory at start 31 and smashing the track record by .74 of a second in the process.

“It’s taken a long time for the penny to drop. Obviously he’s a challenging horse because he works very well in the mornings [but doesn’t show it] on race day,” Whyte said of Vincy, who has now won off breaks of 10 and 11 days.

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“It seems to be that these quick back-ups are crucial to his winning performances. It’s the second time this has happened now and it’s the second time he’s delivered, so that’s a formula one has to take into consideration.”

Elsewhere on Wednesday night, Chris So Wai-yin (Split Of A Second and Bright Kid) and Manfred Man Ka-leung (Great Harvest and Cantstopthefeeling) took the training honours with doubles, while Zac Purton (Bright Kid and Great Harvest) and Matthew Poon Ming-fai (Telecom Rocket and The Runner) were the jockeys to deal in multiples.