3 minute read

It had been well over 12 months since Happy Bunny graced the Macau winner’s circle so it was pleasing to see the former flying machine back to his best with a brilliant win in the feature event at Taipa last Saturday.

Happy Bunny under Mauritian jockey Akash Aucharuz showed all of his old dash and more when he burst on by of his heavily bet stablemate Wealthy East (Peter Ho) to win the 2017 Magic Millions 2YO Sale Trophy over 1200 metres.

The six year old son of Fully Fledged was rated one of the fastest horses in Macau a season back when nothing could match him away from the gates and for speed. However he then lost all his dash half way through last season and has been really struggling in his past eight runs.

On Saturday instead of persisting for the lead as we have so often seen with the gelding, Aucharuz wisely sat off the stablemate Wealthy East until well in the straight.

The Bunny pounced at the 200m and raced away for an easy win over Wealthy East, with Cheerful Fish (Kevin Leung) running on well for third. Second favorite Luen On Treasure made good ground late from the tail of the field for fourth, with race favorite Mr. Singh struggling back in tenth spot.

Happy Bunny is a big strong imposing type that at his fighting weight on Saturday of 1275 pounds was head and shoulders over Wealthy East who scaled at 1035 pounds. His time of 1.08.4 was a personal best for the gelding and his first win at the 1200 metres, a distance that he has fallen short of in the past.

Saturday’s feature was a prelude to this year Magic Millions 2YO’s in Training Sale to be conducted at their Gold Coast Sales Complex on October 10 and 11.

The sales will be beamed live to the MJC Member’s Lounge where Macau owners and trainers will be able to bid online for the horse of their choice.