GIANT Treasure won a thrilling Group 1 Stewards’ Cup at Sha Tin, landing his first success at the top-flight in the process. The Richard Gibson-trained five-year-old was runner-up in December to Japan’s Maurice in the Hong Kong Mile.

The one-mile, HK$10 million Steward’s Cup is the first leg of the Hong Kong Triple Crown Series and Giant Treasure saw off the determined challenge of last year’s BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Luger by a short head, with Contentment a neck away in third place. John Size trains both the placed horses.

Winning rider Christophe Soumillon, landing his third win in the race, admitted that he was lucky to win, given how difficult his mount is during a race.

He said; “He’s not an easy ride, he’s still quite green. I rode him for the first time in November and he was upsetting us a bit because you could feel he’s got a lot of ability but he was not trying that hard.

“You can’t ride him like a usual horse and try to come around the outside to win it. He loves to come through horses. Even today when I hit the front 150 metres from the line he just looked around and I couldn’t make him concentrate until the line.”

Gibson said that blinkers and the booking of Soumillon made the difference. “The blinkers have helped the horse,” the English-born trainer said afterwards. “Christophe has certainly improved the horse. We always knew he had bags of talent last year and now he’s doing it at Group 1 level, so that’s very satisfying.”

Plans are fluid for the Juddmonte-bred son of Mizzen Mast and could include a trip to Meydan, with Soumillon favouring the nine-furlong Dubai Turf rather that the Group 1 Dubai World Cup over a furlong longer.

Giant Treasure (formerly Sea Defence) is a full-brother to the multiple graded stakes winner and Grade 1 runner-up Jibboom whose daughter Flying Jib won the Athasi Stakes in 2014. They come from the family of the Irish 1000 Guineas winner Al Bahathri and the Group 1 Hong Kong winners Rave and Red Cadeaux.

The New Zealand-bred Aerovelocity was an impressive winner of the Centenary Sprint Cup over six furlongs, but he had to survive a stewards’ enquiry before being announced the winner. Paul O’Sullivan’s stable star got close to Peniaphobia on a number of occasions but he was deserving of this victory. The Chairman’s Sprint in May is his likely main target.

A Group 1 winner in Japan and Singapore, the seven-year-old son of Pins is the best sprinter in Hong Kong but was forced to miss last December’s Hong Kong Sprint due to a heart irregularity. Zac Purton rode the winner who cruised for most of the race. The final furlong was a different story. “I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the last 200 metres because I had a bit of a wrestle with him, trying to keep him off the fence,” Purton said post-race. “He gave me a difficult ride but I did the best I could and he won pretty comfortably in the end.”

The winning trainer added: “Today was right up to his very best performance.”

This weekend sees a strong field tackle the Centenary Vase over nine furlongs. The last two editions have been won by Akeed Mofeed and Designs On Rome, both formerly trained in Ireland.