3 minute read

Macau’s wonder horse Wonder Mossman returned to winning form with a brilliant win in at Taipa last Friday night.

With Filipino jockey Martin Cangas in the saddle, Wonder Mossman powered to a dazzling win in the Class 1 over 1200m in 1.07.7, just four tenths of a second outside Warcat’s long standing record of 1.07.3 set in 2008.

Race favorite Mister Kaopu (Ruan Maia) held on for second albeit four and a half lengths away, with Oh So Easy (Horace Lam) running on for third.

Wonder Mossman’s last win was back in July 2016 over the same distance and many had written him off as over the hill nowadays with his recurring leg problems. However it’s not the first time the nine year has proved his skeptics wrong. As a seven year old he was written off as hopelessly broken down before he returned first up after six months to win his third straight Macau Gold Cup over 1500 metres in a slick 1.26.6.

Some nice runs in the top echelon followed before his injuries came back to haunt him and that has seen him drop from being Macau’s highest rated galloper on a mark of 130 to Saturdays mark of 99.

The win was once again testament to the patience and skills of trainer K C “Kit” Chong who has long had a fine reputation for getting problem horses back on their feet.

Wonder Mossman still holds two track records in the enclave being the 1400 metres at 1.19.7 and the 1500 metres at 1.24.9. At one stage he held three course records with his slashing 2014 victory in the Group 1 Star Of The Sand Stakes in 1.44.2 a standard he held until Pak Lok Angel bested it with 1.44.1 the following year.

The son of Mossman twice clocked 1.46.9 for 1800 metres on the turf in winning the Macau Gold Cup in consecutive years in 2014 and 2015 which was the fastest time recorded for the distance in 20 years.

Long recognized as one of Macau’s greatest, Wonder Mossman it appears is far from done with yet and will be aiming at adding another Winter Trophy (Gr 2) to his resume. The Winter Trophy over 1800 metres is set down for December 16. Wonder Mossman won the race back in 2013.

After Friday’s win Wonder Mossman’s record stands at 16 wins and 10 placed efforts from his 55 race starts, with a total of $7,283.675 HKD in stakes money.

Riding honors for the weekend went to Cliffy Lai who kicked home a winning double for the night to give him four winners for the new season.

Lai was in superb form and gave the Stanley Chin prepared Stallion Elite a nice ride to win the Class 3 Division (2) over 1200 metres (turf). Lai found himself in a midfield spot from gate six before threading between runners coming to the turn. Stallion Elite burst into space on straightening before racing away for a good win.

My Club who made all the running under Jonie Pescuiso held on well for second with Turquoise Cry (Andrew Calder) back in third.

Lai was back in the winner’s circle in the last of the night the Class 4 over 1510 metres on the Tommy Tse trained Off The Bench who came with his customary powerful run to take the prize.

Off The Bench got the best of the defiant Military Super (Andrew Calder) who tried his heart out but found the winner too strong, with Destney (Wayne Smith) back in third.