Nervous Witness returned to the winners’ enclosure for the first time in 693 days with a commanding success at Sha Tin on Sunday and sealed a particularly satisfying double for trainer David Hayes in the process.

Donning the Da Silva family’s iconic black and green silks, Nervous Witness ran his rivals ragged in the Class Two Rutland Handicap (1,000m) to produce a dominant pillar-to-post victory under Andrea Atzeni.

The galloper’s win completed a weekend double for Hayes after Oriental Smoke, who also had to wait a long time between drinks, took out the second section of the Class Four Essex Handicap (1,200m) earlier on the card.

“As a trainer that was very rewarding,” Hayes said. “Nervous Witness was out of form for a long time and thankfully the owners stuck with me. We’ve been able to get a couple of wins so it’s good.

“Last season he was sore behind and the vets did a very good job putting some screws in his back leg. He had a good six months off and he recovered really well. Now he’ll get back into the 100s – he’s a decent horse.”

Nervous Witness was once one of Hong Kong’s most promising speedsters but illness and injury led to him ultimately failing to build on a scintillating start to his career.

After beginning his racing career in September 2021 with two impressive victories over the straight course – the galloper was hit with a pair of 14-point hikes – Nervous Witness notched two more wins and rose another 20 points from his next five starts.

A bout of colic in July 2022 led to the speedster requiring surgery, while lameness to his right hind leg resulted in another surgery in May 2023.

Nervous Witness failed to fire on his only other outing of the 2023-24 campaign, finishing seventh at Happy Valley in October, but after pleasing Hayes in a pair of trials – the latest of which was on the all-weather course only five days ago – he bounced back emphatically.

“His two trials have been first class and the win was brilliant,” Hayes said. “After his debut, the handicapper gave him maybe the biggest handicap rise I’ve seen and now he might be back to his full potential.

“He trialled nicely on Tuesday. It’s how we do it in Australia, but not here. I had no choice but to trial him because of the programme.”

Oriental Smoke also had to wait to get back into the winner’s enclosure, with the Hayes-trained galloper notching his first victory in 469 days.

Nervous Witness destroys his rivals again: ‘they just don’t do what he just did’

The son of Artie Schiller had most recently tasted success in Class Two company in November 2022 and capitalised off a rating 24 pounds below his last winning mark.

“He’s won off a rating above 80 so he’s a very good horse,” Hayes said. “He had some issues last season, but now he’s come back into form. I think he’ll keep going too.

“It was good to see him back and I think he can win in Class Three. He’s done it before and he can probably do it again. If he pulls up well I might run him next week.”