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French rider Jean – Baptiste (J B) Hamel dominated Saturdays mixed turf and sand race program with a brilliant four timer for the afternoon.

Hamel was in sparkling form and kicked off his winning run with a lovely front running ride on the Alan Tam prepared Diamond Gold when he dictated the pace to perfection in winning the Class 4 over 1500 metres on the turf.

Diamond Gold  was left in front soon after the start and Hamel made the most of it until the home turn; after kicking clear at the 250 metres the son of Denman (Aus) scrambled over the line to beat Association Eight (Charlie Chan) by a short head, with Royal Master (Peter Lao) a neck away in third.

Hamel had to wait until race six the Class 2 & 3 over 1600 metres to notch up his second winner the Tony Fung prepared Tremendous Wins who came with a strong late surge to down race favorite Still So Cute (Dayversom Barros), with Ojala (Massa Tanaka) in third.

Acing Pro from the Alan Tam yard was the next of Hamel's winners in taking out the Class 3 & 4 over 1350 metres giving Alan Tam two for the afternoon.

Then it was left to Tony Fung's Hostwin Prosperits to ring up number four for Hamel in the last of the day, the 0 to 45 rated Special Conditions Race over 1350 metres also giving Tony Fung a double on the afternoon.

Hamel who arrived in Macau for the last three months of the previous season managed to boot home eight winners which were enough to entice him to stay on in the enclave.  Saturday's four timer took Hamel to 13 winners for the current season, and with former Champion jockey Ruan Maia relocating to Singapore and Oscar Chavez relinquishing his Macau license, it opens the door for greater opportunities for him.

Geoff Allendorf was another trainer that led in a double for the afternoon with two very progressive horses in Draft Camp and Oneofthegreats.

Draft Camp came with a brilliant finish late under Fausto Henrique to down Casino Mok (Massa Tanaka) in the Class 3 & 4 over 1200 metres; and then in the next race Oneofthegreats led throughout under Japanese rider Shogo Nakano to win the Class 2 over 1500 metres.

After Saturday's racing Tony Fung leads the trainer's standings on 23 winners with Geoff Allendorf in second spot on 20 victories. Third spot at the moment is even between Stanley Chin, Alan Tam and Sio Cheong all on 13 wins.

First Winner for Nick Moore

Macau's newest trainer Nick Moore opened his winning as a trainer in his own right when the highly promising Sport Genius (Luis Corrales) made light work of his opposition in the Class 5 & 6 over 1050 metres.

Nick is the son of eight times Macau Champion trainer Gary Moore and grandson of the legendary George Moore arguably Australia's great jockey.

Granted a trainer's license at the start of this season, Moore with his small team had only started nine runners prior to Saturday's race day. Sport Genius had been one of those and turned in a sound performance from the extreme outside gate of 12, when he led before tiring late for a creditable fourth beaten two lengths behind Winnie Star who remains unbeaten from three runs.

On Saturday it was a different story with a more experienced Sport Genius bursting away from the gates to lead comfortably, before racing away over the final two hundred to win softly by four lengths over Tak Fai Of Pins (J B Hamel), with Crown of Gold (Breinell Yamzon in third.

Nick Moore spent 13 years working under father Gary in Macau firstly as a supervisor and later as his assistant trainer. In 2014 when Gary relocated to Rosehill Nick followed and spent two years with Gary and then one year with John Sergeant.

Wanting to take a break from racing Nick ran a cleaning business for two and a half years before the racing bug came back to bite.

"I missed working with horses and it had always been my intention to come back to Macau.  I contacted some of my owners and they agreed to support me especially Jason Tam who has been a good family friend for many years."

"When the opportunity became available to come back and train here I grabbed it and I'm very grateful to the Macau Jockey Club for giving me the opportunity to start my career here."

Nick has high hopes for Sport Genius who is still very immature he feels.

"He is a lovely horse and there is still so much improvement in him. He won with plenty in hand and he is only a three year so it's all in front of him."

"He was bought for $46,000 at the New Zealand Ready To Run Sale for the Shining Star Racing Syndicate who race a lot of horses here and I'm really grateful to them for giving me such a nice young horse."

At the moment Nick Moore has 12 horses in his stable with two more arriving on the next quarantine.

Two other newcomers from the stable that ran on Saturday also caught the eye, Hostwin Euphoria who was beaten a nose and a head in a great four way finish in race two the Class 4 & 5 , and Hostwin Saturn who ran a creditable eighth beaten four lengths after overacing and having a wide run in the Class 2.

Ricky Choi is another fledgling trainer that enjoyed a good day on Saturday leading in a double and pulling off what will be the upset of the season with the 200/1 shot Rock To Road in the Class 2 over 1050 metres.

In a performance that left racegoers in shock, Rock To Road (Breinell Yamzon) finished right over the top of the $1.5 favorite the formerly unbeaten Golden Conqueror (Roger Yu), with Desi Style (Horace Lam) a distant third.

Rock To Road is a former Ingham Racing galloper that was prepared in Australia by Chris Waller. The son of Stryker (Aus) raced 14 times under Waller for a win in a 2YO Canterbury Maiden early in his career and then won at his latest run at Eagle Farm last May in a benchmark 65, so the gelding obviously had some talent.

His debut run in Macau was only a fair 8/11 behind Oneofthegreats over 1200 metres on the turf before the gelding winning a barrier trial on the sand last Tuesday morning in fair time; certainly not striking enough to knock off Golden Conqueror who was looking for five straight wins.

Given the slick time of 1.01.6 it's onwards and upwards especially on the all weather for Rock To Road.

Chinese Hero was an earlier winner for Ricky Choi in the Class 4 & 5 over 1200 metres under Roger Yu, with Choi coming within a short head of a treble with Association Eight (Charlie Chan) just failing to catch Diamond Gold in the Class 4 over 1500 metres.

Choi only has a stable of 14 horses in work and from 41 runners this season has posted seven winners and 10 placings.