Superstar shines on sand
Sheng Li Superstar (Harbour Watch) has elevated himself to the level of Macau’s second highest rated horse with a determined win in Friday night’s Class 1 & 2 (1510m) on the sand.
Prepared nowadays by Stanley Chin and ridden by Luis Corrales, Sheng Li Superstar enjoyed a nice run in third spot in the race before peeling out around the bend for home to go out after the leader Fasuba (Power).
Sheng Li Superstar burst to the front at the 200-metre mark and was chased by the hot favorite Sacred Capital (O’Reilly) and Pearl Green (Fastnet Rock), before powering away to win by almost two lengths.
The hard finishing bolter Simply Impeccable (Street Cry) finished second with Pearl Green close up in third. Favorite Sacred Capital raced a bit one paced in the straight under Peter Ho and wound up in fourth spot beaten two and three quarters of a length.
Friday’s victory was win number eight in Macau with a further five placings for the five-year-old, who has only been out of a top three spot on four occasions in the enclave, with now close to HK$2.5 Million in earnings.
Sheng Li Superstar surprised many with his head victory over Pearl Green in the Spring Trophy (Listed, 1500m) on the turf when racing returned after the Coronavirus break in March. Most attributed that to the soft lead the gelding got on the day, however with a slick speed in Friday’s race coming from Fasuba and Mujaan (Fastnet Rock), Corrales simply bided his time in third spot and had plenty left for the run home.
After Friday night’s victory, the handicapper gave the gelding another four points that took him to a mark of 123; just three points behind Macau’s highest rated horse Sacred Capital who is on 126.
Sheng Li Superstar has been a great buy for Mr. Frank Wong, who purchased him on the advice of his former trainer Tony Fung. The gelding originally raced in Victoria as Westerly Wind where he won a maiden race at Geelong on the all weather track by six lengths when prepared by Henry Dwyer.
Formerly raced by Qatar Bloodstock in Victoria, the bay was a product of the 2016 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale where he was purchased for A$145,000 by David Redvers Bloodstock.
Tuhao Choice (Jakkalberry) picked up a well deserved victory on Friday night but not before having a great tussle with Still So Cute (Thewayyouare) to prevail by one length on the wire in the Class 3 & 4 over 1600 metres.
The son of Jakkalberry (Storming Home) had been close in two recent starts but on each occasion had been the maker of his own demise.
Two runs back the three year old ran a close second to Chromium Alloy (Testa Rossa) at 1500 (turf) however was relegated back to third spot for his runaround racing manners after an objection by the third horse Fortune Paradise (Animal Kingdom).
At his most recent start, he again spoiled his chances by racing very greenly for a close second to Fortune Paradise again over the 1500 metre trip.
On Friday the gelding was on his best behavior and the win gave Luis Corrales the first leg of a double for the night, and also trainer Sio Cheong who scored later in the evening with Kelvin’s Choice (Snitzel).
Kelvin’s Choice is another that recorded a well deserved win on Friday night under apprentice Eric Cheung in the Class 4 & 5 over 1050 metres.
It took 21 tries before the four year old son of Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) could salute, however the gelding had been plagued by bad draws and bad luck in many of his runs.
The gelding commenced his racing career in New South Wales under the moniker of Horn when prepared by Bjorn Baker. A Wellington maiden win over 1100 metres and a Nowra BM58 over1400 metres were his claims to fame there before being sold onto Macau.
Victor Chan Chun Fai was another trainer that picked up a double for the night with Pride Sprint (Makfi) and Bring Me Power (Denman). Pride Sprint, a New Zealand bred four year old, was the first of Chan’s winners, doing plenty of work from his gate (11) under Japanese rider Massa Tanaka to win the Class 5 & 6 over 1350 metres.
As a two year old, Pride Sprint looked destined for better things; the gelding won a trial at Waikato in nice fashion defeating an Exceed and Excel (Danehill) colt who was subsequently name Aquila that has now won twice in Hong Kong in Class 4 and Class 3 and is currently rated at 70.
Things didn’t go as smoothly for Pride Sprint who descended to a lowly rating of 17 before Friday’s win. That said, the manner of his win suggests he might have turned a corner running faster time (1.23.3) then his stablemate Bring Me Power who won the last race, the Class 4 in 1.23.5.
Bring Me Power also shrugged off a tough run from his outside gate (11) to loop the field and run away with the Class 4 under Japanese rider Shogo Nakano.
Bring Me Power bolted away to win by three lengths over Garlic And Spicy (Lonhro), with Ashkari (Dutch Art) in third.
Formerly racing in Australia as Chauvinist, the gelding was a $140,000 purchase by Champion Thoroughbreds at the 2017 NZB Select Yearling Sale. Under the care of John O’Shea, he won a 1500-metre maiden at Hawkesbury from six runs in New South Wales.
The son of Denman (Lonhro) is another high-priced galloper to end up in Macau, no doubt at a bargain price, and the four year old will pay his way here evidenced by his strong win on Friday night.