You couldn’t wipe the smile off Britney Wong Po-ni’s face after the 25-year-old apprentice scorched to her first Hong Kong success at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Thrust into the Hong Kong pressure cooker perhaps earlier than planned after visa issues in Australia, Wong has been anything but overawed by the daunting task at hand early in her maiden campaign on home soil.

“It means a lot to me and, at the same time, it’s a bit unreal because I’ve only ridden two years in Australia and a little bit of time in New Zealand,” Wong said after leading throughout aboard the Douglas Whyte-trained Cheval Valiant.

“It’s such a big step up for me to ride in Hong Kong and also getting my first winner in just my third meeting here is really unreal.”

Wong struck with just her 12th Hong Kong ride after $3.15 favourite Cheval Valiant opened up a sizeable buffer on the Class Four Golden Sixty Handicap (1,000m) field before doing enough late to hold off outsider Majestic Express by a neck.

“It panned out perfect for me, actually. To be fair, this horse has natural gate speed and he loves to lead and be left alone,” said Wong, the first female jockey on the Hong Kong roster since Kei Chiong Ka-kei retired in 2017.

“Definitely, the 10-pound [claim] helped a lot today and also the rain. Mr Whyte gave me very clear instructions before the race – just make sure he jumped clean and if he can get into his own rhythm, he will be happy. We did everything right and the result came right.”

The win of Cheval Valiant was Whyte’s first for the season after a string of seconds, and the South African was full of praise for a jockey he did plenty of work with before she was assigned to fellow handler David Hall.

“It looks easy. Everyone thinks it’s easy. But he’s not an easy horse to ride,” Whyte said.

“Yes, he’s a good beginner, but he can go too hard sometimes and then he’s vulnerable at the end. Britney did a very good job allowing him not to run away too early.

“She held him back and from the 600m she started to let him go, which I asked her to do, and she put a gap on them. I think that was the winning move – they had to then chase her as opposed to her being run down.

“All in all, she held herself together very well under pressure, riding a favourite, beginning as best as she could and riding a very heady race. She was composed and she did a good job.

“Britney worked for me for a long time – before she went to Australia and then when she came back from Australia waiting for her work visa.

“I’ve had a very good association with her, especially a work association. Her timing, her trackwork hands as far as getting horses to relax has always been very good.

“I’ve been impressed. It was just a matter of time for her to find the right opportunity and ride with confidence, which she did, and she deserved that.”

Hall, who also nurtured Matthew Poon Ming-fai, was pleased to see Wong break through.

“It’s only the third meeting for her, so it’s fantastic. Hopefully, there’s more to come,” he said.

“She’s been given a big contract, she’s been thrown in the deep end. She wasn’t selected as the next whizz kid of Hong Kong – she didn’t have her visa, she was back here and they put her in the system.

“It’s sink or swim pretty quickly in this big town, but she’s handling herself quite well. She’s still got a long way to go and a lot to learn.

“A few of her earlier rides she got caught a bit deep, that’s why it’s good to be able to get on that sort of horse to help her confidence. Hopefully she can keep improving.”

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