Euphoria for Moore as Derby hope emerges
Nick Moore has another legitimate Macau Derby (Listed, 1800m) contender in four-year-old Hostwin Euphoria (Street Boss), who emerged victorious in Saturday’s feature, the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YOs in Training Sale Stakes over 1500 metres.
In a drama-charged race Hostwin Euphoria – who jumped the race favourite – went down by a nose on the line to second favorite Dutch Shell (Al Maher). However, jockey Luis Corrales was quick to fire in an objection against Dutch Shell’s rider Peter Ho alleging interference leaving the 400 metres.
After viewing all the patrol films and considering all the evidence, the Stewards Panel, headed by Australian Zane Turner, established that leaving the 400 metres Hostwin Euphoria had secured a run between Dutch Shell and Georgian Ease (Super Ease). Soon after, Hostwin Euphoria was checked and lost his rightful running when Dutch Shell shifted in when insufficiently clear, taking him in on top of Georgian Ease who was badly checked.
Given that the beaten margin was only a nose and that Hostwin Euphoria was finishing the race off much the stronger, the panel was satisfied that had the interference not occurred Hostwin Euphoria would have finished in front of Dutch Shell, and the objection was sustained.
It was a relieved Nick Moore after the win who announced the Derby as his main target for the chestnut gelding.
“To be honest I wasn’t confident with him the past few weeks; he wasn’t working well and he does not do much in the mornings. I put the blinkers on him and he worked with my top horse Hostwin Saturn through the week and he worked the place down.” Moore said.
“He is such a tough horse and we had a good run in the race, but when the interference happened, I thought we were gone; but he finds another gear under pressure so it was a really gutsy performance.”
Moore has the Derby in his sights with his promising four-year-old Sport Genius (Ocean Park) and now rates Hostwin Euphoria as another legitimate Derby contender.
“He’s got a beautiful pedigree that indicates that he is only going to get better over more ground, so the Derby will be his target.
It was a fitting victory by Hostwin Euphoria given that the race was promoted by Magic Millions. The gelding was a AUD$150,000 purchase at the 2018 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale.
They don’t win much easier than the Peter Leyshan-prepared Hyshem (Iffraaj) who donkey-licked his rivals in the Raheen Stud Stakes (Class 5 & 6) over 1800 metres on Saturday.
Ridden by Luis Corrales, Hyshem – as customary for the seven-year-old – settled well back at the tail of the field in the run. In a race run at a fairly steady tempo, Corrales took the initiative at the 700-metre point to pull and start to circle the field.
Hyshem was on a line of three on the lead soon after heads were turned for home, and once in full flight he put four lengths on them to coast home an easy winner over favourite Star Of City Gold (Swiss Ace), with General Fu Hao (Eurozone) in third.
Leyshan was super confident in a pre-race interview about the aged gelding’s chances even though he had not won since March, 2019.
“He has been racing well in higher class races but with no luck and also getting too far back in his races but they have all been good runs. He is not a fan of the very soft tracks but he does like a little cut out of the ground and we have that today.” Leyshan said.
“And with all his bad luck he has slowly gone from a rating of 58 to a mark of 35 today. Luis knows the horse well and puts him into the race so, yes, we are very confident.”
The win capped off a nice weekend for Leyshan who picked up a win with Destney (New Trumps) in the Class 3 & 4 over 1350 metres.
Destney was ridden by Peter Ho, who gave the gelding a gem of a ride, saving valuable ground via the rails before sprinting away in the straight for a nice win.
Destney, like Hyshem, is raced by the Yanese Limited Group.
Wayne Smith picked up a double on Saturday’s card with both Star Of Yiu Cheung (Casino Prince) and Chapman Way (Strategic Maneuver) to give him six winners for the new racing season.
Smith, who is starting his second season as a trainer, took out the A List Stud Stakes (Class 1 & 2) over 1500 metres, with his brilliant Star Of Yiu Cheung dominating his opponents for an easy win under Peter Ho.
Star Of Yiu Cheung has a wonderful record of five wins and six seconds from his 11 starts, including a nose second to Macau’s best rated galloper Sacred Capital (O’Reilly) in the Macau Gold Cup (Listed, 1800m), a Macau Group 1.
The five-year-old gelding is another Magic Millions product, having being picked up for the reasonable sum of AUD$50,000 at the 2017 Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale.
Chapman Way gave Smith his double when he bolted away with the final event, the Nolen Racing Stakes (Class 5 & 6) over 1200 metres, under Eric Cheung.
Without doubt the most impressive winner on the weekend was the Danny Wong-trained newcomer Gon Sai Baau (Smart Missile), who destroyed his rivals in Friday night’s Class 2 over 1200 metres on the turf.
A former Australian galloper who won the Canberra Guineas (Listed, 1400m) for Mark Newnham when racing there as Final Award, Gon Sai Baau had shown virtually nothing in his two barrier trials on the sand since arriving in the enclave. The gelding fell out of the gates on both occasions and was beaten 17 lengths and ten lengths respectively.
However, on Friday night, the five-year-old – even after a tardy beginning – began to travel like the winner 600 metres out. It was evident from his body language that jockey Fausto Henrique could not believe the ease at which Gon Sai Baau ambled past his rivals in the straight for an effortless win.