There has been much debate and talk about Grant Van Niekerk not winning at the Valley, Happy Valley in Hong Kong to be exact.

Well he put that to bed on his first decent ride of the vending when he took Little Bird from start to finish in a commanding victory.

It was not a flash race on a Wednesday at the Valley but it was important for the Van Niekerk crowd and the Jockey himself as he has been niggles about the record.

Van Niekerk has made a solid start to his first Hong Kong season and lies in the top half of the table after following an opening day double with five more winners for trainers like table-topping Jimmy Ting and his nearest pursuer Tony Millard.
 
But that seven-winner haul has been compiled exclusively around the flat, forgiving spaces of Sha Tin.
 
Number crunchers pointed to a Valley record of 0-42 to suggest Van Niekerk is finding the testing city venue tough to cope with. That's gone now.

Onwards and upwards now for the South African