Caspar Fownes celebrated another milestone in his accomplished training career when Kaholo Angel delivered him his 1,100th Hong Kong win at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

Despite being trapped three-wide near the tail of the field, Kaholo Angel sprouted wings in the straight to cruise to victory for Ellis Wong Chi-wang in the first section of the Class Three Bowen Handicap (1,200m).

It was only fitting that Fownes reached the milestone at the city circuit, where he has built a reputation as the “King of the Valley” with more than half of his career winners recorded there.

The 56-year-old is one of only four trainers to prepare more than 1,000 Hong Kong winners, sitting alongside iconic figures John Moore (1,735), John Size (1,535) and Tony Cruz (1,502).

A four-time Hong Kong champion trainer, Fownes was thrilled to savour the moment with Wong and his son Ronan.

“It’s very special and to get it with the young lad, my indentured apprentice, Ellis, was good,” Fownes said.

“It’s a nice number and we’ll keep trying to build on that and hopefully we can get where we want to get.

“We’re happy. It’s good that Ronan’s with me now and learning the game, so it’s been a bit more special to have the young man with me. All in all, a nice team effort.”

Fownes was full of praise for Wong, who didn’t panic when Kaholo Angel jumped slower than expected and settled eighth.

The Havana Grey gelding launched a powerful run down the outside to hit the front at the 100m en route to a one-and-three-quarter-length triumph over Wings Of War.

“It’s kind of funny because we felt looking at the race that we’d jump and use our gate speed and go forward and see what happens,” Fownes said.

“But I said to [Wong] ‘when you’re out there, you’ve got to ride these races and start to think for yourself’. I said ‘if for whatever reason you never ping the gates, or they just come out a bit tardy, always go to plan B and start to learn a little bit yourself’.

“He did the right thing, he gave the horse a nice chance and [Kaholo Angel] was electrifying over the last part. [It was] nice to see that.”

Kaholo Angel boosted his record to three wins from 12 starts and provided 23-year-old Wong with the second leg of a double at Happy Valley.

The in-form apprentice won the opening race, the Class Five Stubbs Handicap (1,000m), on Me Tsui Yu-sak’s Super Axiom.

In a bold front-running display, the well-supported $2.4 favourite led all the way to romp home by two-and-three-quarter lengths.

Elsewhere on the Valley programme, Danny Shum Chap-shing registered a race-to-race double with Exuberant in the second section of the Class Four Mount Butler Handicap (1,200m) and Flying Silver in the Class Four Siu Ma Shan Handicap (1,800m).

“He’s so honest,” Shum said of Flying Silver, who broke through for his first win since February last year. “The 1,800m is his best trip.”

Angus Chung Yik-lai moved within one win of finishing his apprenticeship after a double aboard Flying Silver and Tony Cruz’s Superb Capitalist, who won an eventful second section of the Bowen Handicap.

Happy Fat Cat bungled the start with a mistimed attempt at anticipating the jump, while Not Usual Star took no competitive part in the race after putting on a buckjumping display in the early stages.