Bargain buy a real ‘Pearl’
Bargain buy Pearl Green (Fastnet Rock) made it win number 13 in Macau with a convincing victory under apprentice Eric Cheung in Sunday’s Class 1 & 2 Handicap over 1500 metres, taking his prize-money to over HKD$5.8 million (approx A$1.05 million).
Given a perfect ride in the very testing heavy conditions by the five-pound claimer Cheung, Pearl Green was always in a handy spot in the run before being pumped by Cheung at the top of the straight. The good-looking seven-year-old soon after hit the front to race away for another fine win.
Pearl Green has been a real bargain buy for his owner, long-time Macau Jockey Club (MJC) supporter Chan Ming Wing, who purchased the gelding on the advice of trainer K H Leong.
Leong was given a video of Pearl Green’s two barrier trials as a colt at Randwick – which, on the surface, did not look flash, finishing seventh of nine and eighth of nine in two two-year-old maiden trials at Randwick.
However, in his first trial, he was only five lengths away from Capitalist (Written Tycoon), who within a couple of months had won the 2015 Breeders Plate (Listed, 1000m) and then followed up with the 2016 Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) and the Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) of that year.
By this time the horse – known in Australia as Meadow Lane and who was originally an A$460,000 purchase at the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale – had been gelded and was on the market. K H Leong liked him as a type and picked up the bay for A$50,000, a far cry from his original purchase price.
Right from day one in Macau, Pearl Green showed talent, placing in two of his first three starts before going on to win five races straight. In one of those wins, he clipped heels at the top of the straight with Brazilian rider Ruan Maia lucky to stay in the saddle. Maia picked the gelding up and in a miraculous bit of horsemanship weaved a passage between runners to race away for a three-length victory.
The following season, the Derby Trial (Listed, 1500m), the Macau Guineas (Listed, 1500m) and the Macau Derby (Listed, 1800m) – Macau’s Triple Crown – all fell to Pearl Green, who was then being partnered by another Brazilian in Manoel Nunes. His Derby win had all the hallmarks of a top-class racehorse after he struck bad interference in a rough run affair, before taking off deep under Nunes to avoid the traffic and pinch a winning break to win by a neck from Royal Garden (Remind).
Pearl Green’s record now stands at 13 wins and 18 placings from 38 starts with 37 of those in Macau, only finishing out of a place on six occasions at Taipa and once when fourth in the Hong Kong Macau Trophy (1400m) at Sha Tin. He is the perfect racehorse that handles sand and turf and both good and heavy tracks; in fact, his wet track record reads four wins and six placings from 10 starts, never out of a top three spot.
As the gelding enters his seventh year, it’s not over yet with plenty more to come evidenced by Sunday’s win.
Pearl Green has not been the only bargain buy by K H Leong for Chan Ming Wing. In 2010 Leong paid A$50,000 for a Darley castoff that had won a maiden at Mornington in six runs in Victoria. Originally a A$700,000 purchase by Sheikh Mohammed at the 2008 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, the horse – named Gauteng (More Than Ready) – went on to win 18 races in Macau. He was successful at his Macau swansong as a 12-year-old, he placed on 42 occasions and he picked up close to HKD$5 million in prize-money.
The win on Pearl Green gave apprentice Eric Cheung his 16th victory for the season after returning late from injury. Cheung was a late starter in the business, beginning as a trainee apprentice with the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice School in 2006, alongside the likes of Hong Kong riders Matthew Chadwick, Vincent Ho and Alvin Ng.
Once he completed his time, he was unfortunately not able to secure an apprenticeship there; after five years as a track rider in Hong Kong, Cheung still harboured a burning desire to become a jockey.
He travelled to Australia and after a spell with Toby Edmonds at the Gold Coast and a short stint at Warwick Farm, both as a work rider, he landed an apprenticeship with Gordon Yorke at Gosford.
Cheung got off to a dream start, winning on his first race ride when Radiologist (Nuclear Freeze) scored at Coffs Harbour in June, 2016. After 100 rides in NSW and 17 winners he encountered visa problems in Australia and returned home to his family in Hong Kong.
After a year away from racing, Cheung was enticed back into the game by former Champion jockey and trainer Stanley Chin and he joined the stable as an apprentice in 2018.
With time off through injury, Cheung has only really had a little over two years of race riding experience, however he rides with a maturity beyond his years. He is quite tall for a jockey at 170 centimetres, but is reed-thin going to scale at 110 pounds.
Due to his age of 29, Cheung has been granted a freelance jockey license for next season, but will still ride out his claim. This makes him good value as he still has a five pound-allowance until he reaches 75 winners; his tally at present is 63 wins overall.
Comeback rider Peter Lao is earning the tag as the longshot king after booting home another long-priced winner on Sunday.
Lao was seen to advantage on the $319 pop Numberone Mingxuan (Bullbars) in the Class 4 over 1500 metres for trainer Sio Cheong. To make it even more remarkable, Numberone Mingxuan is Macau’s smallest horse at 864 pounds, yet had no trouble romping home through the testing wet conditions.
The week prior, Lao kicked home Military Star (Dragon Pulse) at odds of $1294 for the win for trainer Tony Fung in the Class 4 over 1350 metres on the sand. Even his first winner back, Infinite Treasure (Captain Rio), paid a whopping $745 dollars for the win.
Nowadays, Lao’s rides are not the heavily-bet favorites that were commonplace for him to ride in his heyday back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as a two-time Champion apprentice and one of Macau top riders.
He even rode successfully in Singapore for Charles Leck for a number of years, winning a Queen Elizabeth II Cup (Listed, 2000m) and a Raffles Cup (Listed, 1600m) on Emerald Isles (Shaadi) and a Kranji Mile (1600m) aboard Pacific Prince (Sky Filou).
The high-end rides may not be coming Lao’s way at the moment, but of late he is looking as good as ever and, as evidenced by his recent performances, he is riding with all the flair of the old days.