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Macau's three time champion trainer Alan Tam is off to a fine start for the new season with a winning double at Taipa on the Friday nights card at Taipa lifting him to equal first spot on the trainer’s table.

Tam opened his winning account early in the night with an easy victory in the opener the Maiden over 1350 metres with Porcini, who simply destroyed his rivals to win by five lengths.

Ridden by top jockey Ruan Maia, Porcini a son of More Than Ready (USA) was always traveling on the bridle in the run and zipped away over the final two hundred to beat Bada Baby (Roger Yu), with Chin’s Delight (Eric Cheung) in third.

It’s taken a long while for the four year old to break through however the ease of Friday night’s victory suggests that more wins are forthcoming for the gelding.

The very promising Thehorseiswithme gave Tam a quick double for the night also with an easy win under Luis Corrales in the Class 4 & 5 Handicap over 1050 metres.

Thehorseiswithme had shown good speed at his second run on the turf to run second behind the very smart Luen On Fortune. In a recent sand trial he looked extra sharp and in light of that the three year was sent out a $1.7 favorite, and gave punters no cause for concern to win easily by three lengths.

Originally a A$145,000 purchase by Dynamic Syndications at the 2017 Melbourne Premier Sale, the then colt developed an eye problem that gradually worsened resulting in him completely losing the sight in his nearside eye. The bay was then purchased by James Moore for owner Mr. Ng Kang So and after given plenty of time to mature was placed in the care of Alan Tam.

On Friday night the gelding was fired out of the gates by Corrales and dashed away with a big lead and never looked in doubt. His run time of 1.02.6 was a tick faster than The Pirate King who won the Class 2 & 3 over the same trip. Coincidentally The Pirate King also has one eye and was also a James Moore purchase.

After Friday night Alan Tam is in equal first spot with last season’s Champion trainer Tony Fung. Whilst it’s very early days yet, it’s a great start for Tam who looms as a real threat in the trainer’s race this season.

Tam won his first trainers title in his very first year as a trainer in the 2001 – 2002 racing season. A second title followed in 2003 – 2004 and then his third championship in 2006 – 2007. A runner up behind Gary Moore (2012) and Pat Lee in (2015), the past few seasons have been a bit tamer, however with a team of 29 horses in his yard with some new blood, Tam is poised to make a real challenge for a fourth Macau Trainers Title.

Luis Corrales won four straight Macau Jockey’s Championships from 2012 - 2013 to 2015 – 2016 before being knocked off his perch by Peter Ho in 2016 -2017 and again last year by Ruan Maia.

The Panamanian born rider is on a mission to regain his title this season and booted home three winners on Friday’s program to take him to seven winners for the new season.

Thehorseiswithme was the first of Corrales winners on Friday night in an armchair job in the Class 4 & 5 over 1050 metres. Not so his next victory on The Pirate King who fell over the line to win by a neck from the fast finishing Luen On Dance Kid (Oscar Chavez), with Emperor King (Breinell Yamzon) in third.

Prepared nowadays by Stanley Chin, The Pirate King has a wonderful record at the 1050 metre distance with five wins and five seconds from 10 runs at the trip. The bay or brown rig was originally a A$70,000 purchase at the 2016 Gold Coast Yearling Sales and would have been destined for a career in Australia, but for an accident that left him blind in the offside eye.

James Moore then secured the horse for Macau owner Liu Yong Guang and the speedy son of Red Element (Aus) has now won close to the million dollar mark in prize money.

Macau is one of very few places worldwide that allows one eyed horses to compete; the other countries from what we are led to believe are Dubai and the USA.

Fifty Flags from the Danny Wong stable was the final of Corrales winners on Friday night when he dug deep to get up in the nick of time to beat the bolter Hostwin Power (Eric Cheung) by a neck, with favorite Acing Pro (Ruan Maia) a neck away in third.

This season’s Jockeys’ Championship could see last year’s runaway winner Ruan Maia facing stiffer challenges from not only Corrales but also from fellow Brazilian rider Fausto Henrique who is set to resume riding this weekend after a suspension. Former Singapore – Malaysian champion Oscar Chavez is another worthy contender should he decide to base himself in Macau for the full season.