3 minute read
Trainers Danny Wong and Stanley Chin didn't leave much for their fellow Macau trainers by winning seven of the 10 races over the two weekend meetings at Taipa.
Wong came out on top overall with four wins, landing one on Saturday's sand program and three on Sunday's turf card.
The former South Australian galloper Eclair Sunshine kicked Wong's weekend off with a runaway win in the Class 2 over 1350 metres on the sand on Saturday under Frankie Choi.
It was win number three in Macau for the former Phillip Stokes prepared galloper, who at his best was second in the Listed Exford Plate over 1400m at Flemington behind Royal Symphony.
Wong struck early on Sunday's turf program with a win by his promising Duporth three year old Wittymaster who ran away with the opening Class 3 & 5 over 1200m under Ruan Maia.
Winter Snow, ridden by Luis Corrales, was the next of Wong's winners when he burst out of the pack late to beat Mission Gdragon (Oscar Chavez) with To's Family (Peter Ho) a close up third.
A five year old son of Sepoy, Winter Snow has now won five races in the enclave all over the 1200m turf course.
Prior to being imported to Macau he had won a Sandown maiden and placed third at Caulfield under the care of Ciaron Maher when racing as Havildar.
Autumn Cloud completed Wong's day with a strong win in the Class 2 & 3 over 1500m with Cliffy Lai in the saddle. The five year old is another ex-Victorian galloper who won a Wangaratta maiden and placed third at Flemington for Darren Weir when racing there as First Approach.
It's been a stellar season for Stanley Chin and his three winners over the weekend took him to a nine win lead in the trainer's premiership race with only nine race days remaining, putting him in the box seat for his first Macau Trainer's Premiership.
Chin leads on 43 winners from Sio Cheong and Tony Fung who are both on 34 victories with Alan Tam next on 32 from Danny Wong's 31.
Sio Cheong and Tony Fung don't appear to have the fire power in their yards to mount a serious challenge and would need nothing short of a miracle to catch Chin.
Great Wall from the Stanley Chin barn was without doubt the biggest win over the weekend when he destroyed his opponents with an eight lengths victory with something in reserve in the Class 3 & 4 over 1510m on the sand on Saturday.
Ridden by Frenchman Stephane Ladjadj, Great Wall rolled to the front before the turn and simply left the rest standing.
An Irish import that raced in the UK as Dream Of Summer, Great Wall had won two races at Kempton and Lingfield on the all weather before arriving in Macau at the start of this season.
The son of Canford Cliffs failed to live up to expectations in his early runs prompting Chin to give him a four month break away from racing.
Since returning in early June the gelding has continued to please and Saturday's win will not be his last this season despite a 10 point penalty for such a big win.
The ease of his win and the time of 1.33.3 will see him hard to toss in the 50 to 70 bracket.
Chin quinelled the Class 3 & 4 over 1050m with his promising three year old King Of Glamour and his six year old Galaxy Giant.
King Of Glamour won in good fashion under jockey Luis Corrales to make it three wins and a head second from his four runs to date and looks destined for better things.
Another promising youngster in Dream Achiever rounded out Chin's weekend with a solid win on the turf on Sunday in the Class 4 & 5 over 1200m again with Luis Corrales on top.
Stanley Chin is a former champion Hong Kong apprentice who rode with great success around the world before taking out his trainer's licence in the 2014 – 2015 season.
