Pierre Ng Pang-chi will spend Christmas 16 wins clear at the top of the trainers’ championship tree after the red-hot handler notched a Saturday double at Sha Tin.

Ng extended his phenomenal run of consecutive meetings with at least one victory to 15 and continued his early title charge thanks to the triumphs of Starship Eighty and Fighting Machine.

“The horses are running well, and hopefully, we can continue to have more winners,” Ng said. “There’s a lot of meetings to think about, and a lot of work to do.”

Ng has saddled 27 winners from the past 15 fixtures and opened his account on the 10-race card when Karis Teetan steered Starship Eighty to his one-and-three-quarter length success in the Class Five Hibiscus Handicap (1,600m).

“He did that very well,” Ng said. “I told Karis to save as much ground as possible – which he did – and luckily, he got a gap without losing any ground.”

Starship Eighty settled in midfield and tracked an honest tempo – the leaders ran the first 800m more than six-tenths of a second inside standard time – before being urged forward by the Mauritian jockey on the home turn.

Showing all of his staying qualities in the second half of the race – the final 800m were run more than a second outside standard time – Starship Eighty took the lead one furlong out before stretching clear in the closing stages.

Ng, who was in the winner’s enclosure to celebrate Starship Eighty’s recent all-weather win on December 3, was pleasantly surprised to see the four-year-old gelding claim his maiden turf victory.

“He has been running well on the turf, and we got the right draw today,” Ng said. “This race was meant to keep him going and get him fit for the next dirt race, but he also won this one. Hopefully, he can do that on the dirt next.”

Zac Purton and Ng boast an impressive 34 per cent strike rate when teaming up this term, and the championship-leading duo made no mistake when they combined with Fighting Machine in the Class Four Ivy Handicap (1,400m).

Considered a $3.10 chance shortly before the off, Fighting Machine was heavily backed into $2.05 in the final few minutes of betting before performing accordingly.

“He’s a nice horse,” Ng said. “It was only his third run. He just needs a bit of experience and help to hit the line hard. He was unlucky last start. He got chopped off when he went for a gap and finished sixth.”

Fighting Machine was waited with at the rear of the field, and despite showing signs of inexperience in the home straight, asserted in the final 100m to finish three-quarters of a length ahead of Perfetto.

“He finished off well, and it looks like he can go further later on. We’ll just do it gradually,” Ng said. “The jockey needs to help him a lot to guide him through the race and pass horses. Zac did brilliantly. He got the job done.”

Sitting on 39 victories after 30 meetings – just two shy of his debut season haul – Ng is already looking ahead to the next fixture on December 26. Asked to nominate his most likely Boxing Day winner, the 40-year-old handler admitted there was one galloper he was particularly looking forward to running.

“Definitely, Billionaire Secret,” Ng said. “We’ll try to get the bonus for the owners. Hopefully, he can run well.”