Untold Riches has been a labour of love for Jimmy Ting Koon-ho, but the six-year-old repaid his trainer’s patience with a second career win in the Class Four Sunbird Handicap (1,200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Having just his seventh start, Untold Riches settled outside leader United We Stand from gate eight before sailing into the lead about 250m from home and digging deep late to defeat Regency Bo Bo by three-quarters of a length.

It was Untold Riches’ first run since scoping with substantial blood in his trachea after a race in June, just one of a string of issues with which Ting has had to deal.

“This horse’s health gives me headaches,” Ting said. “It’s sometimes his left leg, sometimes his right leg, sometimes it’s his lungs.

“When everything is OK with him, he can win – but he still gives me headaches.”

Part of the recipe for Untold Riches’ success seems to be jockey Keith Yeung Ming-lun, who is the only rider to pilot the gelding to success.

Yeung, who has accompanied Untold Riches to two wins and one third from three attempts, opened his account at the 13th meeting of the season, notching his first victory since July 13.

While everything went smoothly for Untold Riches near the front of the field, there was chaos further back as debutant Mach Ten threw his head and veered sharply to his left, ending the chances of a handful of gallopers, including favourite Daring Pursuit.

Superb start for Lui’s Boy

He went over a year between races but it mattered little for Superb Boy, who made up for lost time with an impressive win down the Sha Tin straight.

Sent off a $6.15 chance in his first Hong Kong start, Superb Boy settled just off the leaders under Zac Purton in the Class Three Lark Handicap (1,000m) before claiming Metro Warrior 150m from home and holding off Flying Dragon by half a length.

It was Superb Boy’s first racetrack appearance since his win at Randwick in Sydney in September last year, his second win from six Australian starts.

“He’s an easy horse to train. He just needed time to acclimatise to Hong Kong,” Lui said of his four-year-old, who arrived in the city in January.

“Late last season, he had a good barrier trial win at Happy Valley. We were supposed to run him, but he got a stone bruise, so we put him away and waited for this season.

“We picked the 1,000m because in the barrier trials you can see sometimes he’s difficult. If you’ve got a bad draw, it’s difficult to settle in a good position. That’s why we picked the 1,000m. I think, at the moment, we’ll keep him at the 1,000m.”

Lui went onto complete a double in the final event on the card, moving to 10 victories for the season – and into outright second behind Tony Cruz in the trainers’ premiership – thanks to The Irishman’s victory in the Class Two Cuckoo Handicap (1,400m).

After finishing a close fifth under Zac Purton last start – the race in which the Australian was shooting for a record-equalling eighth victory in a day – The Irishman improved enough between runs to post his first Hong Kong victory at start seven.

It was Ruan Maia in the saddle on this occasion, with Purton opting to partner Oriental Smoke for David Hayes, and the Brazilian settled The Irishman at the back of the field before unleashing the five-year-old down the middle of the track in the home straight.

The Irishman was one of five winners at double figures on the card, but at $11.35 he didn’t cause punters anywhere near as much grief as knockout victor King Land, who snared the Class Three Magpie Handicap (1,200m) at a massive 75-1.

The longest-priced winner of the season so far, King Land ensured a Six Up dividend of over HK$3.3 million was won for only $2.

Relieved Chung strikes for Cruz

Apprentice Angus Chung Yik-lai was a happy man after finally delivering success for his master Tony Cruz, saluting with his 17th ride for the legendary trainer.

Chung took out the Class Three Shrike Handicap (1,600m) aboard Circuit Stellar, using his 10-pound claim to maximum effect to lead throughout.

“Mr Cruz has been supporting me a lot. I was a little bit upset with myself not to get a winner before for him – I’ve had three seconds before today – so it was great to get a winner for him,” Chung said.

Chung described being indentured to Cruz as like “winning the lottery” at the start of the season as he looks to entrench himself in the Hong Kong riding ranks.

Sunday’s success saw Chung move to four winners in his debut campaign to go with his seven seconds and four thirds.