Caspar Fownes snatched the lead back in the trainers’ championship with a double at Happy Valley as Maxime Guyon and Me Tsui Yu-sak continued their hot form with braces of their own on Tuesday night.

Tied on 25 wins with Mark Newnham but trailing the Australian on seconds before Tuesday night, Fownes took the outright lead when he teamed up with stable apprentice Ellis Wong Chi-wang to strike with Sugar Sugar and Kaholo Angel.

The latter sealed Fownes’ brace in dramatic style, sharing the feature Class Two Neptune Handicap (1,650m) spoils with Helene Feeling in the first dead-heat of the season.

Sent out a $45 chance in his first test over 1,650m, Kaholo Angel settled in the box seat and kept on strongly to hit the line locked with Danny Shum Chap-shing’s Helene Feeling, who made it two wins in a row.

“He’s been in good form, the horse,” Fownes said of Kaholo Angel, a six-time winner up to 1,200m before Tuesday night’s success.

“We felt he had a sneaky chance tonight and it was a great result. We gave him a chance against a tough field. He’s an honest horse – he’s been getting all his wins at the Valley over 1,200m and it’s great to see the kid give him a lovely ride.

“On his trial last week, he gave us a nice indication that he would stay the trip, especially at this track.”

Earlier, Sugar Sugar relished his first Class Four start since January 2023 when he charged from midfield to beat Giant Ballon by half a length in the third section of the Jupiter Handicap (1,200m).

“He’s done us well. He’s a good course and distance horse at Happy Valley, he loves 1,200m,” Fownes said.

“He’s been racing quite consistently at Sha Tin and just needed a class drop and the inside draw [in barrier four] to have a chance tonight and the kid rode him perfectly, so it was good.”

Backing up his double at Sha Tin last Saturday, Guyon guided Quantum Patch to a dominant victory in the second section of the Class Four Venus Handicap (1,650m) before striking on Tsui’s The Auspicious in the Class Three Saturn Handicap (2,200m).

Winless since November 2023, the Pierre Ng Pang-chi-trained Quantum Patch took off from last at the 800m with a sweeping move around the field and surged clear in the straight to bolt in by three lengths.

“I had a bad draw [in barrier 10] and I just needed to wait. The pace was not fast and when I came into the race, he did it very easy and he won very easy tonight,” Guyon said after helping Quantum Patch notch his second win from 30 local starts.

The French jockey sealed his brace when The Auspicious nailed Liveandletlive in a thrilling finish.

Capitalising on a dream run in fourth on the rail from gate one, the heavily backed $4.1 favourite The Auspicious kept on strongly in his first test at 2,200m to deny pacesetter Liveandletlive by a nose.

“He has a very strong finish over the last 300m and can do it at Sha Tin and Happy Valley,” Tsui said of The Auspicious, who has also won over 1,400m and 1,600m at Sha Tin this term.

The Auspicious completed Tsui’s double after the veteran handler struck in the opening Class Five Mercury Handicap (1,200m) when James Orman guided Concorde Star to his first win at start 11.

The 65-year-old also had a double at the Valley last week, with The Auspicious his fourth winner from eight runners at the city circuit in that span.

“I’m very happy with my form,” said Tsui, who has lifted his seasonal tally to 11 winners.