Online sales a great success story for Macau
In September 2014, the Macau Jockey Club introduced a brilliant new innovation with the launch of the first online horse auction by a Racing Club in Asia.
In a unique arrangement with the vendors of premier two-year-old sales groups Magic Millions, Inglis and New Zealand Bloodstock, Macau buyers were able to bid for the horse of their choice in the comfort of the MJC members lounge at the Taipa racetrack.
The sales were complete with buyer’s access to breeze-ups, full sales catalogues and a vet’s corner in place to answer any queries regarding their purchase.
It was a bold move that became an instant success and since then the annual online sales have become a major source of our horse imports into the enclave.
The very first winner from the original online sales, Mission Dragon (Jet Spur) won his ninth race on June 28, and has racked up another 21 placed efforts from his 75 starts in the enclave picking up over HK$3 million in prize-money for owners Mr. and Mrs. Cheng Wing Bor.
Trainer Patrick Lee purchased the son of Jet Spur (Flying Spur) for just $32,000 at the 2014 Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YO’s in Training Sales. The rising eight-year-old is still racing with plenty of zest and his days in the winner’s circle are far from over.
The trend continues and on Saturday Patrick Lee combined with owners Mr. and Mrs. Cheng Wing Bor and Mr. Chan Ho Man, both long serving clients, to win the first two races on the card with Mission Dragon (Reliable Man) and Partners Fortune (Better Than Ready), both products of Online Sale.
Mission Dragon under Peter Ho made it win number two when he found the line strongly to land the Class 5 & 6 over 1500 metres.
The gelding is a son of Reliable Man (Dalakhani) who won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Randwick in 2013 as well as the Prix du Jockey Club (Gr 1, 2100m) at Chantilly and the Prix Niel (Gr 2, 2400m) at Longchamp. His dam is the Commands (Danehill) mare Skeena.
Mission Dragon was a $60,000 purchase at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run 2YO Sales of 2018. His pedigree suggests he will run a lot further than Saturday’s 1500 metres.
Partner’s Fortune (Better Than Ready) gave Peter Ho and Patrick Lee a quick double in picking up the next event, the Class 4 & 5 over 1200 metres, when he pulled out all stops to beat Chi Chai Sin Sang (Per Incanto) by a neck to make it back to back wins from only six starts.
Like Mission Dragon, Partner’s Fortune is another online sale purchase, this time from the 2018 Inglis Premier Sale and was a $68,000 buy. The three-year-old gelding is by Better Than Ready (More Than Ready) from the Manhattan Rain (Encosta de Lago) mare Bright Planet and is raced in partnership by Mr. and Mrs. Cheng Wing Bor and Mr. Chan Ho Man. Both Mission Dragon and Partners Fortune have already recouped their purchase price.
Oriental Joyful (Redwood) must rate as one of the best buys to hit the enclave for many years. The three-year-old gelding destroyed his opposition in winning his fourth race in ten starts when he bolted away under jockey Roger Yu with the Class 3 over 1350 metres on the sand on Saturday.
Oriental Joyful has proved to be a real steal for owner Mr. Chiang Chon Kai, who purchased the three-year-old son of Redwood (High Chaparral) at the 2018 New Zealand Ready To Run Sales, for the giveaway price of $26,000.
Along with his four wins for trainer Danny Wong, Oriental Joyful has placed on another four occasions and has only been out of a top three spot twice in his ten runs. After Saturday, the gelding’s prize-money tally is now nudging the three-quarter million mark.
The bay’s run time on Saturday of 1.20.8 equaled the class record set by Korean Dream (Thorn Park) back in 2015.
With the onset of the Covid-19 virus, international travel plus large crowd gatherings are going to be on hold it would appear indefinitely. Online sales streamed around the world are here to stay, the new norm where buyers can bid from the comfort of their home for the horse of their choice.