Biscuit hot in record win
An inside draw was the catalyst for the Patrick Lee-trained Crispy Biscuit (Written Tycoon) to turn the tables on his more fancied rivals on Saturday, with a brilliant record-breaking win in a hot class Class 1 and 2 field.
Crispy Biscuit, formerly named Shaken Not Stirred in Australia, had been haunted by outside gates in most of his runs in the enclave against the same company. However, it was a different story on Saturday, with the five-year-old coming up with the pole position for the first time on the grass.
Ridden by Faust Henrique, Crispy Biscuit flew the gates and led comfortably. He kept running strongly right to the line to hold off Loxwood (Pierro), who followed him for the entire race. Gon Sai Baau (Smart Missile) was close up in third. The even-money favourite Hostwin Saturn (Stratum) ran on strongly for fourth spot.
The son of Written Tycoon (Iglesia) has been a wonderful buy for owner Mr. Law Hiu Sing, with four wins and three placings from his 13 runs in Macau.
Bred by Bene Racing and Breeding at Warwick in Queensland, Crispy Biscuit was passed in as a yearling at the 2017 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale after failing to meet the reserve of $60,000. Subsequently purchased privately, he won two races at Ipswich when raced by Matthew Park and Stallion Racing.
His run time of 1.07.6 for the 1200 metres snipped .01 off the 2017 Class record set by Wonder Mossman (Mossman), who is arguably Macau’s best ever racehorse.
Snow Storm impresses
A maiden win in a 0 to 45 handicap may not be the race you would be expecting a Macau Derby (Listed, 1800m) contender to emerge from, however Saturday’s winner Snow Storm (Mossman) looks to have the necessary attributes after overcoming a difficult passage over the last 150 metres to win decisively under Eric Cheung.
The Joe Lau-trained Snow Storm enjoyed a good run until he found himself locked away behind a wall of horses in the home stretch. Cheung was able to switch course late and dart across the back of runners to fly along the inside for a good win.
Lau has earned the name of Macau’s Derby wizard having won four of the last six contests, the most recent being Sacred Magnate (Foxwedge) last year.
Snow Storm has a long way to go to be considered a Derby contender, but he appears to have the right profile. He is by Mossman (Success Express), who won over 2040 metres in the Group 2 AAMI Vase at Moonee Valley, and is out of the Shinko King (Fairy King) mare Royal Dominance, who only raced three times, winning a 1400-metre maiden and placing third in the NZB Royal Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m).
“He has not been an easy horse train and hopefully there is more to come from him in the future.” Joe Lau said after the win.
When pressed about a path to the Derby, the usually reserved Lau added: “Well, it looks like it, we will see when I step him up.” Eric Cheung described him as “a higher-class horse but still very green.”
Big weekend for Cheung
Eric Cheung made it a double for the afternoon with a narrow win on King Of Glamour (Eurozone) in the Class 3 over 1500 metres for trainer Stanley Chin.
King Of Glamour enjoyed the perfect run under Cheung from gate three and came with a late surge to grab Hostwin Shadow (Longhorn) and win by a head, with race favourite Winnie Star (Medaglia D’Oro) in third.
The win capped off another nice weekend for Cheung, who also partnered City Lucky Star (Redoute’s Choice) to victory on Friday night for trainer Tony Fung in the Class 4 and 5 over 1510 metres.
City Lucky Star is a former Hong Kong galloper that failed to flatter in 11 runs there as Dr Lucky Star, before being sent to Macau via New Zealand. Friday night’s win made it two wins from two starts in Macau, and the manner in which he won suggests he will have no trouble winning a few more now that he has found his niche on the sand.
Another win for Arriba Arriba
Arriba Arriba (Denman) is another Hong Kong reject that has found a new lease of life in the enclave, with another dashing win in Class 3 on Friday night under Stephane Ladjadj.
Prepared by Allen Tam, Arriba Arriba was carted the best part of eight or nine deep on the corner by the leader Destiny Choice (Sepoy) but recovered quickly to swoop down the outside and defeat race favourite Hostwin Poseidon (Dream Ahead), with Casino Mok (Casino Prince) in third.
Arriba Arriba had only one run in Hong Kong where he finished well back in a Class 4 over the straight 1000 metres at Sha Tin. The gelding was found to have bled and he was shipped back to New Zealand where, after a six-month spell, he was sent to Macau.
Arriba Arriba has won four of his five starts in Macau, with two on the turf and two on the sand, and is well over the half million-dollar mark in prize money.