After the relief of watching My Wish romp home in the Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m) on Sunday, Mark Newnham is hoping to continue his momentum to Happy Valley on Wednesday and extend his trainers’ premiership lead.

The 57-year-old is two clear of Caspar Fownes after a double at Sha Tin, headlined by his rising star My Wish flexing his Group One Hong Kong Mile credentials.

The Group Two Jockey Club Mile in November now awaits his five-year-old and although happy to see his flag bearer win, the overriding emotion was relief for Newnham after having some time to reflect.

“I think I would have been disappointed if he didn’t win – he had a few advantages going, in terms of weight and recent runs,” said Newnham.

“Obviously for his next two runs, he won’t have that weight advantage and the fitness edge. He is going the right way and will improve. At the moment, I couldn’t be happier.

“Things have been going terrifically well for the stable to start the season. We’ve just got to keep the new and fresh horses coming as some of the others hit their marks – I’ve still got plenty of good ones to come.

“Things can change quickly in Hong Kong so I have no doubt the table will look very different at the end of the season, but it’s been a fantastic start.”

One of those good horses is the promising King Lotus, who looks to enhance his growing reputation in the Class Three Flying Handicap (1,200m).

The son of Royal Meeting was once a winner at Happy Valley from three starts in his debut season before returning with a dominant display over course and distance last month.

Still totally unexposed and drawn in stall two for his second start of the campaign, Newnham is hopeful of a big run as he climbs the ranks.

“He does look a nice horse. I think he could be looking for further but I think he can run well again,” said Newnham. “I think he still has plenty of improvement to come.

“I’m hoping the pace of the race will hold up, but he should get a good position. The class of the race and how he runs in it will tell us a lot more about him.”

Newnham also runs the ever-reliable Youthful Spirits, who tackles the feature Class Two Longines Cup (1,000m).

It has been a while between drinks for his six-year-old, whose sole win from 23 starts came when scoring over course and distance back in June 2024. Since then, he has run into the places seven times, including this season at both the Valley and Sha Tin.

He has been drawn in the car park on both his runs this term and has run well in spite of that, so with a draw in stall four, Newnham has optimism that his consistent operator can get involved.

“He tends to run the same race every time – he earns a lot of prize money but finds it hard to win,” said Newnham. “They extended the entries for the race so that allowed him to run over a course and distance he does well over.

“The last time he ran in this grade he was narrowly beaten and we know he’ll run his usual good race – whether that’s good enough to win, we’ll find out in the last 50m.”

On a busy night for Newnham, he also runs Happy Boys, Looks Outstanding, Super Unicorn, Absolute Lucky and One More.