Continuing a dream first week in the saddle in Hong Kong, apprentice Nichola Yuen Hang-yiu drew high praise from Douglas Whyte after booting home the former champion jockey’s sprinter Fast Responder at Sha Tin on Monday.

Fresh from her successful Hong Kong debut when guiding PI Legend to victory on the Sha Tin dirt on Wednesday night, Yuen landed her first Sha Tin turf triumph when she lifted Fast Responder to a thrilling success in the Class Four Bluff Handicap (1,000m).

Fired to the front from barrier eight, Fast Responder kept on strongly to defy Zac Purton’s mount Glowing Praises by a neck.

“It’s really good for Nichola. She’s riding with a lot of confidence, she’s got a good pair of hands on her and clearly the 10lb [claim] helped this horse today,” 13-time Hong Kong champion jockey Whyte said.

“She’s Ricky Yiu’s apprentice, but if she’s available I’d definitely want her to ride the horse again. I think the horse suits her, I think it’s beneficial with the lighter weight and she got him into a nice rhythm today and kept that rhythm going.”

Fast Responder had been bursting to add to his sole Hong Kong win last year under apprentice Britney Wong Po-ni, having notched five seconds and a third before Monday’s breakthrough result.

“He was very unlucky last time, he ran up backsides at the wrong time of the race and I thought he hit the line probably the strongest of all. His handicap doesn’t allow him to have those sort of incidents, but we just kept it uncomplicated today with the 10lb off and the tailwind,” Whyte said.

“It’s not the best way to ride him, jumping and running – I don’t think he’s that kind of horse. He wants to follow a bum and get comfortable and attack the line, but when you take today’s tailwind and 10lb off, you try to eliminate as many things as possible and we just kept it simple.

“I think when he goes into Class Two with a really light weight, he could figure.”

Fast Responder helped Whyte clinch a Sha Tin double after Supreme Winner landed a plunge to claim the Class Five Severn Handicap (1,200m) under Alexis Badel.

Brown-lamped from $23 to $6.65 despite failing to place on his first 18 starts, the son of Epaulette stormed home from midfield to beat Always Fluke by three-quarters of a length.

“He’s been a horse that lacks a bit of confidence and it has taken me a bit time to adjust that,” Whyte said.

“Bringing him back to a shorter distance where he’s got less time to think about things has certainly been beneficial. He trialled well leading into this and I gave him a freshen up, and I liked the way he attacked the line.

“He has a very low rating and he shouldn’t be way down there; I think he could still win again before the end of the season.”

Supreme Winner was Whyte’s first Sha Tin winner since his New Year’s Day double.

Badel joined Whyte with a double after striking in the following race on the Jamie Richards-trained Big Return to victory in the Class Four Pollock Handicap (1,600m).

However, Badel’s brace was soured by a two-meeting suspension and HK$50,000 fine for careless riding on Big Return.