Bargain buy loves the sand
Progressive four-year-old We Love Macau (Fast ‘n’ Famous) made it two wins from his last three starts on the sand, with a dominant victory in Saturday’s Class 4 & 5 over 1510 metres under Frenchman Stephane Ladjadj.
Prepared by master conditioner Joe Lau, We Love Macau was put forward into a handy spot by Ladjadj soon after the start and travelled well in the run, before peeling out off the back of the pacemaker Autumn Cloud (New Approach) to race away for an easy three and half lengths win over Honey Biscuit (Showcasing), with blueblood Ready Fire (Sepoy) running in third.
We Love Macau must be one of the bargain buys of all time, having been sold through the 2019 Inglis Digital May Monthly Online Sale for just AUD$4,000.
From only nine stars to date, We Love Macau has won three races, two on the sand and one on the turf, and placed a further two times, earning well over HKD$400,000 (approx. AUD$69,600) in prize-money for owners Johnny and Derek Liu.
“Yes, it seems he was a very cheap purchase at $4,000; the owners bought the horse and sent him to me. He was a very laid back horse with a really kind temperament and still is,” Lau said.
“I thought there was something there in him though, just how much I was not sure. The blinkers were a big help and he has just continued to improve.”
Saturday’s win suggests the fun is just starting with the bay gelding, who continues to rise to the occasion after his maiden victory over 1500 metres on the turf on a rating of 31 points.
After Satruday the handicapper will hit him at least eight points for his easy win taking him to around 52 points, and still eligible for Class 4 contests.
The win was the first leg of a double for Ladjadj, who later scored on the aged galloper Grateful Favors (Congrats) in the Class 5 & 6 over 1350 metres.
Prepared by the joint yard of Tommy Tse and Louis Ho, Grateful Favors – an eight-year-old veteran of 90 runs in the enclave – showed there was still life in the old boy yet, as he surged down the outside late to snatch victory from another nine-year-old veteran in Highspot (Manhattan Rain), with Dare To Be (Nadeem) in third.
The win on Grateful Favors gave Ladjadj his sixth victory for the new season, and puts him in equal sixth spot on the rider’s standings with Peter Lao and Masa Tanaka.
Grateful Favors was also the second leg of a double for the Tse and Ho yard, having won the previous contest – the Class 3 & 4 over 1350 metres – with Collateral Mission (Reckless Abandon) with Luis Corrales on top.
Number Zero (Showcasing) is another horse on the way up evidenced by his impressive win in the Class 2 & 3 over 1510 metres.
Ridden a treat by Fausto Henrique, Number Zero was a touch slow into stride and raced at the tail of the field until approaching the home turn. Henrique weaved a path between runners and burst out of the pack at the 200 metres to go out after the leader Top Mountainlegend (Manhattan Rain) who looked home; however, Number Zero stormed by him late for a length win, with Military Strongman (Foxwedge) a further three quarters of a length back in third.
Prepared by Danny Wong, the five-year-old has now won five races and placed on two occasions from only nine starts, and is nudging the HKD$1 million (approx. AUD$174,000) mark in prize-money.
The speedy Silent Height (Redwood) continued on his winning way when he bolted away with the last of the day, the Class 4 over 1050 metres under Corrales.
The six-year-old gelding made it two wins in succession, showing off his dazzling combination of speed and stamina to lead throughout for an easy six-length win over Powerful Conqueror (Exceed And Excel) with Akeli Sword (Dissident) in third.
Prepared by Stephen Chow, Silent Height’s run time of 1:01.80 – on a day when the track wasn’t riding slick – was just .03 outside of the class record set by The Pirate King (Red Element) in 2018, and gave Corrales a double for the afternoon.