Blake Shinn and his mount Antino were right in the thick of the tangle that made life hard for Galaxy Patch in December’s Group One Hong Kong Mile, and now the gun Australian jockey will be tasked with helping Pierre Ng Pang-chi’s exciting galloper snare that elusive elite-level success in Sunday’s Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m).

While Galaxy Patch has been a Group One winner in waiting for what seems like an age, things haven’t quite fallen into place – most recently when the five-year-old was held up on multiple occasions when surging home from the back of the field in the Mile.

“It was just a messy race. Antino and Galaxy Patch were in the middle of a big scrimmage, which wasn’t ideal being such a prestigious race, but that’s horse racing,” said Shinn.

“Galaxy Patch still ran a phenomenal race and to ride a horse like him is always exciting. I’m just delighted to be riding him.”

Shinn has partnered Galaxy Patch twice, including into second in last year’s Hong Kong Derby (2,000m), and he regains the reins from Vincent Ho Chak-yiu.

Ho took Galaxy Patch back to last from gate 14 on international day while the victorious Voyage Bubble assumed his customary role near the speed. Shinn expects to adopt similar tactics from barrier three in this weekend’s rematch.

“You’ve got to ride the horse to suit the race and he likes to find his rhythm early and come with a run. That’s his pattern and we can’t change his racing pattern, but he’ll be storming home,” said Shinn.

“Hopefully we can have a trouble-free fun and I think he’s got the class to be good enough, that’s for sure. I’d get a real buzz if we could pull this one off.”

Shinn partners another Ng-trained galloper, Beauty Waves, for the first time in Sunday’s other feature, the Group One Centenary Sprint Cup (1,200m) headlined by Ka Ying Rising.

“He never ever runs a bad race and I’m super excited to be riding him. He’s a very capable horse and I do think he’s got a win in one of these big races in him,” said Shinn, who will be back at the end of the month to pilot the Francis Lui Kin-wai-trained Divano in the Classic Mile.

Shinn, who also has a number of winning chances on the undercard, is one of three jockeys jetting in from Australia this weekend, with James McDonald in town to partner Voyage Bubble and Craig Williams jumping aboard Magic Control in the sprint.

“I know in Hong Kong he hasn’t gone out beyond 1,000m, but in Australia he won [a Group Three] at 1,200m, so that gives me confidence,” Williams said of Magic Control, who raced as Archo Nacho in Australia.

“His trainer Cody Mo [Wai-kit] is going really well. He’s having a great season, especially recently, and he’s obviously gaining a really good handle on this horse.

“It’s not going to be a walk in the park – it’s far from that when you’ve got [Ka Ying Rising], who won one of the world’s biggest international sprint races and he lines up on Sunday.”

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