Self Improvement reigns supreme in Korea as Hong Kong falls agonisingly short of feature double

07 Sep 2025

Manfred Man’s sprinter takes out the Group Three Korea Sprint (1,200m) under a peach of a Jerry Chau ride



Jerry Chau salutes after Self Improvement victory in Group 3 Korean Sprint.



Check the odds for this HK horse Self Improvement,
I salut the horse, trainer and jockey,
they did HK horse racing proud,
cheers!


Self Improvement produced the performance of his life to win the Group Three Korea Sprint (1,200m) as Hong Kong fell agonisingly short of snaring a feature-race double on the Seoul sand on Sunday afternoon.


One of the lowest-rated runners in the field, the Manfred Man Ka-leung-trained Self Improvement’s previous best was a Class Three victory in Hong Kong, but that mattered little for the six-year-old son of Deep Field.


Given a peach of a ride outside the speed and out of the kickback by Jerry Chau Chun-lok, Self Improvement kept finding during a tough home-straight battle with Japanese galloper Chikappa under Yutaka Take.


“It’s amazing and it’s my honour to represent Hong Kong, [owner] Mr Wong and trainer Mr Manfred Man. It’s a very great honour for me and the horse brings me success. I really appreciate it,” said Chau after Self Improvement saw off Chikappa by half a length.


“[Take is] a great jockey and that was a great horse. I think the key to winning is because we got to the front earlier and didn’t get the kickback. It was helpful for my horse.


“In the straight my horse had a very big heart. When the other horse passed him, he tried to go again and fight back. I was really happy with that.”


Both Chau and Man were enjoying success overseas for the first time, while Self Improvement became Hong Kong’s second Korea winner nine years after Super Jockey’s success in the same race.


“It’s very meaningful for me. Before the race I was worried because in Korea the sand is very different from Hong Kong. I was worried about whether the horse could handle it or not,” said Man.



Self Improvement (outside) digs deep to win Sunday’s Group Three Korea Sprint (1,200m).


“But the owner did the research and said that the Japanese opponents are old and also not too strong, so the horse deserved to go to Korea. I’m very happy, it’s my first time to send a horse to Korea.”


While Self Improvement’s victory earned him an invite to the Group One Breeders’ Cup Sprint (1,200m), Man confirmed he is more likely to consider a trip to Dubai for World Cup night in March.

	bet within our means

Enjoy the moment fellow punters

	bet within our means

quote originally posted by woonie:

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$5x for a win. I won also. 2nd feature race bet on him again . Fall short coming in 2nd. But kena Fct with Jpn horse $38 not bad

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Good morning bro,
nice to see you again,
congrats on your Win and Fct selections.

For myself I just took Win only,
the odds good enough for me

I go see HK racing whenever I'm free,
so I consider it's a good start for us all,
cheers my friend

	bet within our means