Kilgravin Lodge toast extraordinary Macau Derby winner Cheers Brothers
There was plenty about the 2022 Macau Derby (Listed, 1800m) that was just plain strange, but the Taipa feature may have unearthed a horse capable of representing the territory with aplomb abroad with Inglis and Karaka graduate Cheers Brothers (Deep Field) potentially set to follow in the path of past winners Luen Yat Forever (Honours List) and The Alfonso (Magnus) after his staggering success on Sunday.
First, the bizarre.
A Derby being staged for five-year-olds jumps out as being a peculiarity in itself. Usually run for four-year-olds, as is the case in similar jurisdictions Hong Kong and Singapore, the Macau Derby was staged for five-year-olds in 2022, coming just days after the turn of the season.
This was the case at Kranji in 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and, with Macau still battling lockdowns, the Derby was postponed at Taipa from July 17 to August 7.
Although, with Sydney announcing the AU$2 million Five Diamonds (1800m) and a AU$1 million prelude over 1500 metres, perhaps Asia is just getting ahead of the game by providing what would once have seemed unfathomable – age-restricted races for older horses.
That would normally have been as strange as it got, but the manner in which the race unfolded ensured even more attention and certainly garnered Cheers Brothers even more plaudits for his victory in the HK$2.3 million feature.
Contested on a surface officially described as yielding with a typical summer mist hovering over the course, the track actually appeared to hold up well in the humid conditions with kickback limited and most seemingly ok in the softer going.
All, that is, except Cheers Brothers (5 g Deep Field ex Balmoral Baby by Red Ransom).
Having been snagged back to a distant last by jockey Eric Cheung, the Joe Lau-trained five-year-old appeared at sea throughout, dipping and diving as his rivals ran along in front.
Asked to improve at the 500 metres, however, he made up lengths in a matter of strides. While that was happening, though, Luis Corrales on the grey Bygone Era (Bull Point) back near the inside was looking to shift out wider, taking out Cumberbatch (I Am Invincible) onto Breeze ‘N’ Luna (Mongolian Khan) who then badly checked Cheers Brothers.
While it appeared for a split second that Cheung was set to tumble over the head and neck of Cheers Brothers, the rider managed to gather his mount together and send him for home – although he had once again been relegated to last.
Still, that loss of momentum seemed to have made little impact as he continued to make ominous ground down the outside, eventually reeling in the horse and rider that had started the carnage – Bygone Era and Corrales – to score by a length.
Favourite Yuanno (Pierro) finished third, two and a half lengths behind the winner.
It was a remarkable performance that took the gelding to six wins from 11 starts in the enclave. He gave Macau racing its greatest prominence in years and even raised the prospect of a potential international campaign, sparking memories of 2010 Derby winner Luen Yat Forever, who finished fourth in both the Toorak Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) and the Emirates Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) later that year.
Bred by the GB Thoroughbreds partnership of Daniel Gangi and Simon Bilalis in association with Rosemont Stud, Cheers Brothers was first offered for sale at the 2018 Inglis Great Southern Sale, where he was purchased for AU$52,000 by Eion and Megan Kemp of Kilgravin Lodge in New Zealand.
He was then offered at Karaka’s Book 1 in 2019, being purchased by Mark Old in conjunction with his trainer brother Glenn for NZ$150,000.
“We bought him from Melbourne and he was a very nice walking horse,” Eion Kemp recalled to Asia Bloodstock News yesterday. “We didn’t pay a lot for him; at the time, Deep Field was still an unknown for Asia and so the interest wasn’t there like there would be now.
“He progressed really well through the prep. We set a NZ$150,000 reserve on him and I recommended him to Mark Old, who is a very good friend of mine. He bought him for one of his Asian clients at the time and it’s worked out well.”
The 2018-19 yearling season proved to be a fruitful period for Kilgravin Lodge with Cheers Brothers making it a stakes-winning clean sweep for the operation from that time.
“We only pinhooked two horses from Australia that year,” Kemp said. “Cheers Brothers was one and the other was Need I Say More who was a very good three-year-old here, he won two Group 2 races among six stakes wins and was subsequently sold up to Hong Kong.
“We are starting to diversify our operation a lot more and so it is great to see that success coming now.”
Cheers Brothers adds another string to the bow of the all-conquering Deep Field (Northern Meteor), with the Newgate Farm resident again cementing his position as the Pearl River Delta pin-up boy.
He is the third winner from three foals to race out of Balmoral Baby (Red Ransom), who won at Goulburn, Kembla Grange and Ipswich during her career.
Balmoral Baby was sold for AU$600 through Inglis Digital in March last year before selling again in August on the same platform, reaching $2,750 to Stanley River Thoroughbreds.
She is set to foal down to Telemon Thoroughbreds’ Sun City (Zoustar) later this year – a fitting full circle for the mare who now boasts a Macau Derby winner among her sons.