Vincent Ho Chak-yiu is doing his best to focus on the positives as he prepares to fight the severity of the 10-meeting suspension he received on Wednesday night.

Whacked with the lengthy ban for failing to ride out Capital Delight until the end of the race in the gelding’s dead heat with Lucky Archangel at Happy Valley, Ho lodged an appeal against the length of the penalty on Thursday afternoon.

“It is what it is – at the moment, I’m pretty calm with the situation,” Ho told the Post.

Ho’s ban comes soon after his return from the fractured T5 vertebra he suffered in a nasty fall in Japan in July, with Hong Kong’s leading local jockey missing the first two meetings of the 2023-24 campaign.

Ahead of his return to the racetrack on September 17, Ho confirmed he would be somewhat selective in choosing his rides, saying “it’s going to take months to be 100 per cent again in terms of my form, weight and everything”.

“I’m trying to look at the positive side, which is that now I can take the time to heal 100 per cent rather than pushing the boundaries every meeting. Maybe it’s a good time for me to actually heal. It’s better to look at the positive side,” said Ho, who has seven rides at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Ho’s suspension begins after next Sunday’s Sha Tin fixture and will see him miss the Group Two Premier Bowl (1,200m), the Group Three Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse (1,800m) and the three key Group Two races on November 19.

That November 19 fixture, the main lead-up meeting for the Longines Hong Kong International Races, falls the day before Ho’s suspension ends.

Ho slapped with 10-meeting ban for lacking vigour in final strides of dead heat

While Golden Sixty will not be racing in the Group Two Jockey Club Mile on that day – the three-time Horse of the Year is not resuming until the Group One Hong Kong Mile in December – Ho is hopeful a deduction of his ban will allow him to be available all the same.

Meanwhile, Lucky Sweynesse and Beauty Eternal tuned up for their next assignments with trial wins at Sha Tin on Friday morning, with jockey Zac Purton giving both the tick of approval.

“He’s coming. His action is getting better. He’s getting a bit cleaner in the wind. His body is starting to look better. He was very fresh in the gates, which we know he can be. He jumped out nicely, travelled nicely and did what he had to do,” Purton said of Lucky Sweynesse.

“[Beauty Eternal] was a bit fresh in the gates as well. He got out and travelled nicely. The track was a little bit deep this morning. He prefers hard and fast, but he travelled around nicely, and although he didn’t change his lead legs in the straight, which is unusual for him, he still ran through the line nicely and had a good blow when pulled up.

“He’ll improve a lot from that trial, and he’ll improve even more after he races heading towards hopefully December.”

After falling short in the Class One HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup (1,200m) on opening day, Lucky Sweynesse will look to return to the winner’s list in the Premier Bowl on October 22, while Beauty Eternal lines up in next weekend’s Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m).