Star on the rise for Smith
Star Of Yiu Cheung (Casino Prince) continued on his winning way with another all-the-way win in Saturday’s Class 1 & 2 over 1500 metres to chalk up his sixth win in Macau.
Prepared by former Dubai champion jockey Wayne Smith, Star of Yiu Cheung made light of his outside gate of 12 to come out running and lead on the bridle under regular rider Peter Ho.
Although pressured mid-race by Eclair Sunshine (All Too Hard), the five-year-old was always on the bridle and left his rivals standing at the top of the straight when he dashed clear.
Lover Paradise (Canford Cliffs) made a valiant attempt to run him down but to no avail, while honest performer Luen On Poseidon (Pierro) ran on well for third.
Star Of Yiu Cheung, by Casino Prince (Flying Spur) out of Call Collect (Charge Forward), was originally an AUD$50,000 purchase at the 2017 Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sales, having been acquired by Victoria Peak Thoroughbreds.
The gelding was aptly named Reverse Charges and placed in the care of Scone trainer Brett Cavanough. His sole barrier trial at Hawkesbury yielded a very impressive second behind Whatever You Want (Rocker), who was sold to Hong Kong immediately after.
Racing has always been a game of chance, there are no guarantees: Whatever You Want was renamed One Happy Star in Hong Kong and is still struggling on a rating of 44, yet to win a race; Star Of Yiu Cheung has six wins and six second placings from his 12 starts, and he is nudging HK$2.5 million (approx. AUD$426,300) in prize-money.
The bay gelding was beaten twice in local Group 1 races, finishing a short head behind Sacred Magnate (Foxwedge) in the Macau Derby (Listed, 1800m) before he was then beaten a nose in the Macau Gold Cup (Listed, 1800m) by Sacred Capital (O’Reilly) in August.
It’s not unreasonable to say the gelding could have remained unbeaten in all 12 starts with a touch more luck, as he has ruined his chances on numerous occasions by racing too fiercely and refusing to settle. His biggest beaten margin has been one and a quarter lengths by Electroplate Alloy (Golden Archer) over an unsuitable 1050 metres on the sand; all his other defeats have been only from a nose to a head.
“How lucky was I that he did not win the trial that day at Hawkesbury, otherwise he would have been off to Hong Kong,” Smith said. “An ounce of luck is worth a ton of judgement, isn’t that what they say? We ended up buying him for Macau at a very reasonable price after.
“His win was terrific today. Peter had to fire him up to cross them from the outside draw, and then just when he tried to ease him and relax a bit, we were taken on by Eclair Sunshine. We were carving out some pretty quick sectionals in the back.”
“I had plans to take him to Hong Kong for a shot at the Group 3 races and I have no doubt he would acquit himself well, taking a line through Sacred Capital’s Hong Kong runs, but all of that has to wait until the Covid virus has settled down.”
The win on Star Of Yiu Cheung completed a double for Ho over the weekend, following his win Friday night on the Geoff Allendorf-trained Oneofthegreats (Snitzel), who produced a gutsy front-running performance to win the Class 2 over 1200 metres.
Oneofthegreats came out flying from gate six and soon took up the running. He was there for the taking at the 200 metres with a wall of chasers on his tail, but maintained a strong gallop to hold on by three quarters on the wire from Loxwood (Pierro), with Mission Gdragon (Jet Spur) in third.
Oneofthegreats has done a fine job in Macau with Friday night’s victory win number four, along with four placed efforts and over HK$1 million (approx. AUD$170,500) in prize-money.
The now five-year-old was originally purchased for AUD$250,000 at the 2017 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale by Spendthrift Australia. Racing in Victoria as British Medium for the Mick Price yard, he won a maiden at Ballarat over 1600 metres but then failed to live up to expectations and was sold onto Macau for a much more reasonable price tag.
The now five-year-old has proven to be a good investment for popular owner Thomas Lau and his associates.
Allendorf was again in the winner’s circle on Saturday with his highly promising Colonel Mordaunt (Zoffany), who clung on to victory to win by a head, in the Class 4 over 1500 metres under Frenchman Stephane Ladjadj. Colonel Mordaunt defeated Heartgoodallwell (Sebring) with Money Link (Red Jazz) close up in third.
The win was much better than it looked as the speed was a cracker from the outset, with the leader Georgian Ease (Super Easy) running some nippy sectionals in the back, and a race set up for something to finish from off the speed. Colonel Mordaunt’s time was almost one second faster than the second division taken out later in the day by Mountain Eagle (Shamoline Warrior).
Allan Tam led in a double for the weekend with two nice horses in Harvest Year (Power) and his newcomer Arriba Arriba (Denman).
Harvest Year, a brother to Tam’s flying sprinter Fasuba, easily demolished his rivals in the 3- & 4-Year-Old Handicap for the 0 to 35 raters over 1350 metres under Roger Yu. It was win number three from only six starts for Harvest Year, who – like his brother – has a real affinity for the Taipa sand track.
Arriba Arriba was even more impressive under Luis Corrales on Saturday, when he scored a dominant win in the 0 to 45 maiden over 1200 metres.
The five-year-old showed enough potential to get to Hong Kong as a youngster and was placed in the care of Chris So. At his only run in Hong Kong over 1000 metres, he was prominent on the speed before finishing a fading tenth beaten eight lengths.
The gelding was found to have bled and was subsequently shipped back to New Zealand; after a long spell, he found his way to Macau in August this year.
Saturday’s win was full of authority and completed in a time quite comparable to Oneofthegreats the night before in the Class 2, on a track made a touch slower by overnight showers.
Yu was the most successful jockey over the weekend with three winners. As well as his win on Harvest Year, Yu was successful on Winter Typhoon (Canford Cliffs) in Friday night’s Class 3 over 1050 metres, and Tokai Shinsei (Olympic Glory) the Class 5 & 6 over 1800 metres on Saturday.