Hugh Bowman and Keith Yeung Ming-lun miraculously avoided sustaining serious injuries in a nasty fall during Saturday’s Class One Panasonic Cup (1,400m) that claimed Tuchel’s life and took the gloss off Luke Ferraris’ biggest win in Hong Kong.

Bowman hit the turf when his mount, Panasonic Cup second favourite Tuchel, broke down 125m from the finish line and bumped into Yeung-ridden Find My Love, with Jockey Club vets euthanising last season’s Group Three Premier Plate (1,800m) champion in front of the Sha Tin grandstand.

Both Bowman, who tweeted from his hospital bed he had “a few fractures, nothing too serious, thank God”, and Yeung, who rode The Equalizer, Super Ten and Ka Ying Cheer in Saturday’s final three events, also fell during Sha Tin races last term.

Bowman came off Fast Pace on Christmas Eve, while Royal Agility and Felix The King sent Yeung tumbling during March meetings on consecutive weekends.

The Panasonic Cup mayhem occurred out of Ferraris’ sight, with the 21-year-old South African rider taking Frankie Lor Fu-chuen-trained Sauvestre straight to the front and the pair making all for their first Class One victory, respectively.

Sauvestre, whom Ferraris rode to his only Class Two triumph last term, won the Panasonic Cup by a neck from Red Lion, Dancing Code and Atullibigeal, with the Jockey Club judge assigning the same losing margin to the second, third and fourth finishers.

“He had the light weight, and the race sort of mapped to suit him,” Ferraris said of Sauvestre. “When he gets his own way in front, he sort of pricks his ears, and he sort of comes back to you, and then you can do what you want with him.

“He pricked ears around the bend. He got a nice breather in, and then with the lightish weight, when I clicked him, the response was immediate.”

Sauvestre’s Panasonic Cup win was the fourth and most prestigious of his 19-start Hong Kong career, with all four of his local successes coming over 1,400m at Sha Tin after he joined Lor from Chris Waller as a one-time 1,200m victor in Australia.

Lor, one of three handlers six wins behind second-season trainer Pierre Ng Pang-chi early in this term’s championship race, indicated the Class One Chevalier Cup (1,600m) on November 26 could be Sauvestre’s next competitive assignment as the Hinchinbrook gelding builds into his campaign.

“First up this season, the form was not really good,” Lor said of Sauvestre. “Then, the second start, he ran better and finished third. Today, he had a light weight over 1,400m, which is his best distance, and the jockey was able to lead by himself and control the pace really well.

“Maybe I’ll look to 1,600m now, but this horse has two times had heart problems. You need to look after him very carefully. If he’s healthy, we can maybe keep going [to the Chevalier Cup].”

Bowman’s broken bones – which are believed to include a fractured scapula – mean the Australian star, second in this term’s riders’ standings on 21 victories, is highly unlikely to steer Group Two Jockey Club Mile favourite California Spangle next weekend.

California Spangle, whom Bowman partnered to win the Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m) on October 15, is set to face a maximum of four rivals in the Jockey Club Mile, with only the connections of Beauty Eternal, Beauty Joy, Healthy Happy and Voyage Bubble also entering their gallopers.