09-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Lyle Hewitson hoping for an awesome foursome on improving Invincible Shield at Sha Tin
The South African jockey will hop aboard the progressive galloper for the first time on Saturday
Lyle Hewitson is hoping Invincible Shield can continue his rapid rise up the ratings and notch a brilliant four-timer in the Class Two Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road Handicap (1,200m) at Sha Tin on Saturday.
Francis Lui Kin-wai's galloper was a well-beaten 11th on his local debut but has done nothing but improve since, securing his first win in the form of a gutsy Class Three win over course and distance back in February.
He followed that up by powering away late in another course and distance Class Three one month later, but he really hit the headlines with a Class Two 1,400m win over a smart field on Champions Day.
It will be the first time Hewitson has ridden the I Am Invincible colt in a race and he knows he has a real fight on his hands to keep his horse looking invincible against a stacked field.
Invincible Shield is SERIOUSLY GOOD! 🫡
Francis Lui's burgeoning sprinter makes it a hat-trick of wins at Sha Tin and first in Class 2 with @CWilliamsJockey up...#FWDChampionsDay | #HKracing — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) April 27, 2025
'I was supposed to ride him the second time he ran but unfortunately I was suspended and then missed the boat, so I struggled to get on him,' said Hewitson.
'He impressed me from day one. I always thought he was a Class One horse and that there was scope for improvement later on as well. It's getting harder now that he's racked up the rating points and I'm probably getting on at the toughest stage.
'It's a nice race but he'll handle himself well and he will perform – hopefully he can continue his winning ways but it's getting more difficult.
'Every time, except first time out, he's had a perfect scenario with the race shape and draws. He does have a nice draw in five and it could work out for him again, but we're going to have to be on our game to win a race like this.'
The 27-year-old currently sits on the 19-winner mark for the campaign but he has endured a further 35 second-place finishes and 29 thirds during what has been a frustrating season at times.
Hewitson was also forced to bounce back from another setback after he hit the Sha Tin turf back in December and suffered a knee injury and heavy bruising to his quadriceps.
It continued his wretched luck with injuries, with the South African previously fracturing his pelvis in a horror fall in the 2021 Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) early in his Hong Kong tenure.
