Trainer Casper Fownes appears to have been gifted a winner after Longwah Kid ran home strongly to finish second in the Class Four Piaget Handicap (1,400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Longwah Kid arrived after scoring at his only Australian start in a three-year-old race over 1,000m on a yielding track at Yarra Valley, but has fallen quickly from a mark of 66 to 50 after failing to go closer than seventh in eight outings for previous trainer Michael Chang Chun-wai. On a number of occasions, the four-year-old had drawn 12 and 14 gates.
Fownes had been working Longwah Kid in a combo of pacifiers and hood and presented him with the double gear change along with his usual tongue tie.
From gate two with Tye Angland on board, Longwah Kid settled three back and on the fence after breaking fairly, eased him out approaching the final bend, hit the straight one-off the fence, peeled to the outside of John Dory at the 300m before showing a nice turn of foot to edge Solar Boy for second by a whisker and three parts behind the winner John Dory.
He is an Australian-bred son of the Rory's Jester stallion Happy Giggle, a multiple sprint winner of the Group Two Marybyrnong Plate and has been represented by one other local starter in the now-retired private purchase griffin, Always Giggle - a useful sprint winner of five races. His maternal line shows good versatility over varying range of distance, but his immediate dam, the Final Card mare Diamond Orchid, was a triple winner at 1,150m in Australia.
With Fownes quickly finding the key to the chestnut, Longwah Kid should start to prove his worth.